Survivors of the War
by F-ckthesystem125
Summary: When a beaten Peridot is brought to Beach City on the back of an equally injured stranger, the Gems learn that they may not be the only ones that stayed on Earth after the war 5,000 years ago. Join Steven Universe, the Crystal Gems, and old enemies as a new threat looms over the horizon. Lapidot in this. I don't own Steven Universe.
1. The Stranger

A/N: Hello everyone. This is a new story that I'm attempting to write. I'm a fan of this show, so I decided to make a fanfic of it. Hope you all like it. Intro's gonna be a little short. Takes place before the episode 'Keeping it Together'. Enjoy.

* * *

It was morning in Beach City, and it's denizens were slowly beginning to wake up to start the day. It was a very tiny city located next to the ocean, and everyone knew everyone else in the city. Especially the little boy running towards the shop called 'The Big Donut'. He walked in and up to the counter, where his two friends, Lars and Sadie, were talking back and forth before he came in.

"Hey Steven." said Sadie. "What'll you have?"

"I'll have 2 chocolate donuts please." he said.

"Coming right up." she said as she grabbed some tongs to handle the donuts with. "So Steven, go on any missions lately?"

"Yeah!" Steven yelled with a big smile on his face as someone walked inside. "Me, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were all fighting this giant slug thing! Pearl was grossed out by all it's slime and...and..." he trailed off when he noticed Lars and Sadie weren't looking at him. "Guys? Hello? Are you listening?"

"Uh...Steven?" Lars said as he pointed behind him. Steven turned and looked before his eyes went wide. Two figures were now in front of him. One standing, the other being carried. One was a male who looked to be around 16-17 years old with long, messy black hair that hung over his eyes. He was in nothing but tattered white shorts and a strange collar around his neck, while his body was covered in small injuries and dried blood, his right hand covered in bandages. And on his back was someone he knew all too well, out cold, injured, and wearing another collar like his.

-At the Temple-

Garnet had just returned from a solo mission via the warp pad while Pearl was cleaning up yet another one of Amethyst's messes.

"Yo, Garnet!" Amethyst said with a wave.

"Hello, Garnet." Pearl greeted with a forced smile, clearly annoyed at Amethyst's antics. "How did your mission go?"

"It was okay." Garnet said as she sat down on the couch. "Steven back yet?"

"Not yet." Pearl said. "He went off to buy some of those...donuts. How anyone can even think about something as revolting as eating is beyond me."

"What's wrong with eating?" Amethyst asked before shoving a handful of jam and mustard covered potato chips into her mouth. "It's fun!" Pearl just shuddered at her before she went back to cleaning up the mess.

"Guuuuyyyyys!"

"That sounded like Steven." Pearl said as the gems looked at the door.

"GUYS!" came Steven's yell before he burst through the door. "GUYS! OUTSIDE!" The three of them didn't say a word as they all ran out the door. "LOOK! ON THE BEACH!" The three of them looked before a mixture of shock and rage came across their faces. Standing on the beach was the mysterious stranger, with another person that they wished didn't exist.

"Peridot!" Pearl yelled before the three of them jumped down onto the beach a few yards away from them, weapons drawn. Steven was running towards them as fast as his little legs could take him.

"I'm only going to say this once!" Garnet said. "Drop Peridot, and get out of our way!" The teen did nothing at first before he knelt down and gently placed Peridot in the sand before turning to face the Crystal Gems.

"...not...here...to fight..." he said as he raised his right hand, a determined look on his face. "But...I will...if that's what...it takes..."

"Stop!" Steven yelled as he ran towards them all. He kept running until he was between both groups, his arms held out wide facing the Crystal Gems.

"Steven! What are you doing?!" Pearl yelled in surprise.

"That's Peridot!" Amethyst yelled. "You know, the same Peridot that tried to blast us with that giant ship before she and Japser tried to kidnap us!"

"I know that, but look at her! Look at them!" he yelled. "They don't look like they can fight!" All of them stood where they were, none of them willing to back down from their position. The teen wobbled for a moment before his legs gave out and and he fell on all fours. He tried to stand up, but his vision faded before passing out. Garnet began walking towards Steven, her gauntlets still present, before passing Steven by.

"Please, Garnet!" Steven begged as Garnet stood before the two figures in the sand. "I know that Peridot did all those things to us, but look at her! She's really hurt! And so is this guy!" Steven said as he lifted the stranger's right hand. "His hand's probably all messed up!" Steven felt the teen's hand and noticed a sizeable lump was under it. "See?! It's swollen! It's probably broken!"

"Maybe Peridot broke it somehow." Amethyst said as Steven took off the bandages to see how bad it was. The bandages fell, along with all their jaws. Embedded deep into his hand was a large, black gem.

* * *

A/N: So, what do you all think? Should I scrap this, or should I continue?


	2. Questions

A/N: No flaming has happened, so I'll continue. I apologize if some of them seem out of character.

* * *

The Crystal Gems and Steven carried both the stranger and Peridot inside before placing Peridot onto the couch. Steven's father, Greg Universe, was called to help clean the teen's wounds while the Gems kept a close eye on Peridot. They didn't take their eyes off Peridot even when Steven walked in to see how everything was going.

"Has she woken up yet?" Steven asked.

"No." Garnet answered. "But when she does, she's got a lot of explaining to do."

"So does that strange person that was carrying her on his back." Pearl added before she looked at Steven. "How is...whoever that person was?"

"Dad took him to the car wash to clean him up." Steven said as he sat next to Pearl.

"Who was that guy?" Amethyst asked. "And...was that really a gem on his hand?"

"It can't be!" Pearl said. "The only human that should have a gem is Steven!"

"But it was right there on his hand." Steven said.

"But for that to happen, another gem would have to have been on Earth since the Gem War, and the only ones left on the planet since then were the three of us and Rose!" Pearl explained.

"Whether it's real or not, we need to question him." Garnet said.

"Hmm." Steven said with pursed lips before walking towards the door, bag of donuts in hand. "I'm gonna go see how he is." he said. "Maybe he's awake now."

"Amethyst. Go with him." Garnet said.

"Huh?" she said.

"If that really is a gem on his hand, then he may be dangerous." Garnet explained. "I want you there to protect Steven in case he tries anything."

"Ugh. Fine." Amethyst groaned as she walked towards the door. "Let's go Steven."

-At the Car Wash-

Steven and Amethyst arrived at the Car Wash to see Greg sitting outside in a lawn chair playing his guitar.

"Hey dad." Steven said as he looked around. "Where's that other guy?"

"Resting inside the van." Greg said.

"How is he?" Steven asked as he opened the back doors and looked inside. The teen was resting on a mattress inside the van, his body cleaned, wearing some of Greg's clothes.

"Not as bad as I thought." Greg said with a small frown. "His wounds weren't really bad. More like really big paper cuts."

"And all that blood?" Amethyst said.

"I don't know." Greg said. "Where exactly did you find this guy? And why does it look like he's got a gem on his hand?"

"We didn't find him." Steven said. "He just walked into the Big Donut with Peridot on his back."

"Peridot?" Greg said.

"She's one of the Homeworld Gems that came in that giant hand ship." Steven explained.

"What?!" Greg said before taking Steven and Amethyst by their shoulders and backing up a few steps. "If he's with someone like that, then I don't want you anywhere near him!"

"Aw, come on!" Steven whined.

"I'm with Greg on this one." Amethyst said.

"But if it's real, then he's a gem too." Steven argued. "And what about all those wounds, and that weird collar?"

"Maybe he likes wearing it?" Amethyst said.

"Actually, I don't think that he put that collar on himself." Greg said.

"What do you mean?" Steven asked.

"Well, I tried to remove it earlier, but not only did it stay on, it sorta...well...it zapped him and he was going all crazy and yelling pain!" Greg finally said.

"It zapped him?" Steven asked.

"Look, I don't know who this guy, but if he's mixed up in something bad, then I don't want you near him Steven." Greg said while crossing his arms.

"We don't know that unless we ask him." Steven said before holding up a bag. "And maybe these donuts will make him friendly." Greg and Amethyst just looked at Steven's optimistic smile before Steven got inside the van and sat next to the sleeping teen and just stared. He stared for about 7 seconds before Amethyst hopped in and sat next to Steven.

"He's not gonna wake up if you stare at him Steven." she said.

"Let him rest, Steven." Greg said. "You can say hi to him later."

"Okay." Steven said as he and Amethyst got out of the van. "I wonder if Peridot's awake."

"If she is, then she's not gonna like who she's gonna see." Amethyst said.

-In the Temple-

Peridot groaned as she stirred from unconsciousness, her entire being feeling nothing but pain. She slowly opened her eyes, only to squeek in fear. Standing before her was Garnet and Pearl, both with their weapons drawn. She tried to move, but the pain was too much to bear.

"Alright Peridot," Garnet said as she stood over her. "Now that you're awake, you're going to answer some questions."

"And if I refuse?" Peridot said with a scowl, her hatred for these clods breaking her things, wrecking her ship, and stranding her on this over-sized rock. She got her answer when Garnet turned her head to the side and punched a hole in the couch, mere millimeters away from her gem. Peridot was now sweating as she stared up at Garnet, who was glaring at Peridot with her fist raised into the air again. Hoping for mercy in this bleak situation, she sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"That's better." Garnet said as she stood back up over Peridot. "Now-" she started before the door opened. Steven and Amethyst walked in and explained what happened at the car wash, about the little injuries and the collar that zaps it's wearer if someone tries to pull it off. Garnet listened with a neutral look on her face before looking at the one on Peridot. "So, trying to force these collars off will hurt the wearer then?"

"That's what my dad said happened when he tried to take the other one off earlier." Steven said.

"Let's see if it's true." Amethyst said as she reached for Peridot's collar.

"NO! STOP!" Peridot yelled in fright, her aching body trying to get away.

"Amethyst." Garnet said in a slightly higher tone, stopping her from touching the collar. Garnet then looked at Peridot, who was looking terrified at them all.

"Please!" Peridot said, her voice sounding tiny. "No more zapping!" The four of them just stared at Peridot as she trembled before them all.

"Peridot," Steven said as he stood in front of her, a look of concern on his face. "What happened?" Peridot was still shaking as she stared back at Steven before she averted her eyes away from him.

"I was...captured." she said. "It was...a few Earth days after my escape pod crashed here. They came out of nowhere. Too many to handle."

"Who?" Pearl asked.

"I don't know." Peridot said. "But...I wasn't the only one that they captured. The facility where I was held prisoner in had many others trapped."

"I highly doubt any prison on this planet could hold a gem." Pearl said.

"Yeah. Why not just bring out a weapon and bust out?" Amethyst asked.

"Because of this rotten thing on my neck!" Peridot said in disgust. "I can't summon a weapon, I can't interface with any gem technology, I can't even retreat into my gem because of this blasted device!" she spat. The others just listened to her rant before she took a few deep breaths and calmed down. "I haven't been able to do anything."

"Well, that answers some of the questions I was going to ask." Garnet said.

"Still, there are other questions we must ask." Pearl said. "Like-"

"Who's that guy that brought you here?" Steven interrupted. Peridot looked at him as Steven continued. "The one that has a gem on his right hand." Peridot's eyes widened in recognition at that last sentence.

"I don't know if what he said is true, but he calls himself the child of Black Onyx." Peridot answered.

"Black Onyx?!" Pearl shouted. "HER?!"

"Who's Black Onyx?" Steven asked. Amethyst and Pearl looked at Garnet, who had a slight frown on her lips before looking at him.

"Black Onyx was a gem that we fought against in the Gem War." Garnet said. Steven's eyes widened just as the door swung open, with Greg standing in the doorway taking deep breaths.

"Dad?"

"Bad news! That strange guy's gone!"

* * *

A/N: I really hope I'm getting everyone in character. Also, can someone tell me what a Black Onyx means in Gemology, please? I'm no expert. Something to help me get a base feeling for his personality.


	3. More Questions

A/N: I wish to thank those that gave me the info I asked. I also found that Black Onyx means self control, decision making, intuition, and protection.

* * *

The temple was in a panic after Greg came in and said the teen had disappeared. Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl all bombarded Greg with questions, none of them giving him a chance to answer any of them.

"Enough!" Garnet said, silencing everyone in the room. All of them stared at Garnet as she looked at Greg and asked, "What happened?"

"Well..."

-Flashback-

Greg was sitting on the lawn chair playing his guitar while shooting an occasional glance at the teen sleeping in his van. He was worried for, and scared, of the teen. Worried because the kid was hurt when he saw him. And scared because he was carrying one of the gems that tried to take his son away. He sighed before he turned away and just stared out in front of him.

"I wonder how Steven can handle all this craziness." he said as he plucked at his guitar, his mind wandering back to when he joined the Crystal Gems to stop Lapis Lazuli and get the ocean back. He then thought to when Steven told him how those Homeworld Gems nearly took him and the other gems back to Homeworld before crashing the ship into the temple. "I really hope you're not gonna put Steven through any of that." he said as he turned to look into his van. His expression fell before he scrambled towards the van, the teen gone without a trace.

-Present-

"I looked around the Car Wash, but he wasn't in there!" Greg said. "So I came here."

"Where is he?!" Pearl yelled as she pointed her spear at Peridot.

"Why are you asking me?" Peridot nearly yelled. "I don't know where he went!" Pearl didn't seem convinced as she brought her spear closer to Peridot's gem, making Peridot sweat.

"Pearl, stop!" Steven yelled as he hugged her. "She was here when he disappeared." Pearl looked down at Steven with a stern look while Steven stared up at her with a concerned frown. "Let's at least go out and try to find him!"

"That won't be necessary." Garnet said.

"What?!" Pearl yelled. "How is it not necessary to look for him?!"

"Because," Garnet said before looking towards the door. "He's coming here."

"He is?" Steven said before he released Pearl and went towards the window next to the door, followed by Garnet and Pearl to see the teen slowly walking towards the temple, wearing the collar and an oversized shirt while holding onto his shorts so that they didn't slip off. "He is!"

"Steven, stay here!" Garnet ordered before walking out the door and jumping a great distance to confront him, gauntlets out. The others just watched out the window as the teen approached her before stopping a few yards away. "Who are you, and why are you here?" Garnet asked.

"Don't have one." said the stranger. "Just call me Bo."

"Bo, huh?" Garnet said.

"It's for Black Onyx." he said as he showed the gem in his right hand. It was black and oval shaped lying horizontally across the back of his right hand. "And as to why I'm here," he said as he reached into his pocket, causing Garnet to raise her gauntlets before he pulled a paper bag out with the Big Donut logo on it. "Got anymore food?"

-Moments later-

Bo, while under constant watch, was inside the temple eating a plate of waffles on the couch. He explained to them why he up and vanished on them between bites before he finished the meal.

"Thanks for the food." Bo said.

"You're welcome." Steven said with a smile. "So when you woke up, you saw that my dad's back was turned and ran because you didn't know or trust him?"

"Yes." Bo said before turning to Greg. "Sorry about that...uh...who are all of you?"

"I'm Steven Universe!" Steven eagerly said before pointing around. "That's my dad Greg, that's Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl!" He then pointed at Peridot. "And sitting over there is-"

"I know. Peridot." Bo said before looking at the three gems. "So, you three gems and Steven here are the ones she was talking about. The traitorous, destructive, clods?" The four of them turned to Peridot, who looked back like she didn't care.

"I merely spoke the truth." she said.

"Introductions and insults aside," Pearl said as she turned to Bo. "We have some questions we like to ask."

"Of course." Bo said as he leaned back on the couch. "Like what?" Pearl opened her mouth, but Steven got his question out first.

"Is that gem in your hand real?" Steven asked.

"This?" Bo said as he raised his right hand. "It's as real as the gem in your belly button."

"How'd you know about that?" Steven asked, prompting Bo to point his thumb over his shoulder at Peridot.

"I don't buy it." Amethyst said. "If it's real, then why don't you try doing something with it?"

"That's a very good point." Pearl said. "For all we know, that gem may just one that you found and just...glued to your hand."

"I could show you that it's real, but..." he said before pointing at his collar. "Can't do jack with this thing on me." The gems looked unconvinced, but decided to drop it for now.

"Alright then." Garnet said before turning to Peridot. "Have you contacted Homeworld?"

"No." Peridot grumbled. "I can't without some proper gem technology." They didn't show it, but that answer was like a giant weight off their shoulders.

"Next question, and it applies to both of you." Pearl said. "Where exactly did you both come from?" The two of them looked at each other before looking at the ground.

"We don't know." Peridot answered. "One moment I'm trying to find a way off this planet. The next, I'm in a holding cell in some kind of facility. It's where I met Black Onyx here."

"And I don't know where it was, but the moment I got the chance, I broke out and ran." he said. "She was the newest prisoner and was being transported through the facility while I was breaking out. I took her with me since she was a prisoner as well." The gems did nothing at first, but then walked outside with Steven, leaving Greg, who was a little freaked out after hearing all this, to guard them.

"I don't like this." Pearl stated while Garnet sat against the wooden railing and kept an eye on the two being watched by Greg. "I can't tell if he's lying or not about anything he just told us. And those collars could just be there to fool us."

"If that were true, then wouldnt' Peridot be back in her gem to heal?" Steven asked.

"Who cares about her?" Amethyst said. "She tried to bring us back to Homeworld."

"And she's also been trying to restart the Kindergarten." Pearl added.

"I don't like her either, but having her here may be a good thing." Garnet said

"What?" Pearl and Amethyst asked in shocked unison.

"If she's here, we can keep an eye on her and make sure she can't ." Garnet explained calmly. Amethyst didn't like the idea of her being here while Pearl contemplated Garnet's thinking. After some thinking, neither of them could deny that keeping Peridot under watch was the best plan of action at this point.

"Hey, guys." Greg called from inside the house. "The gem here, Peridot, wants to talk to you guys." The four of them stepped inside and circled around Peridot, wanting to know what she wanted to talk about. "I'm gonna head back to the car wash. Be careful, Steven."

"Bye dad." Steven said with a wave before Greg left. He then turned his attention back towards Peridot.

"What do you want?" Garnet asked while she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I have a few questions for you all as well." Peridot said.

"Like what?" Amethyst said with narrowed eyes.

"My ship crashed here, yet there's no trace of it." Peridot said. "Where is it?"

"Destroyed." Pearl answered. "And safely put away so that it would not fall into the wrong hands. Like yours."

"Great." Peridot said sarcasticaly. "Okay then. Where's Jasper and Lapis Lazuli?" Every one of them looked at each other before Garnet explained what happened after the ship crashed. Peridot listened with an irritated look on her face before she heard the Lapis willingly fused with Jasper before dragging them both into the water. "I see." Peridot said before she turned her head.

"Fused?" Bo said.

"It's when two gems combine into a more powerful gem." Steven said. "Garnet here's a fusion!" he said in excitement before running to her and holding her hands out, revealing both of her gems.

"Fascinating." Bo said as he stared at the gems. "So, those two that fused are now somewhere in the ocean, huh?"

"Yeah." Steven said, his good mood going glum. "I miss Lapis."

"I see." Bo said as he rested his chin in his fingers. "I guess the only thing we can do now is bide our time."

"I'd rather not stay here." Peridot said.

"That's not up to you." Garnet said.

"We're in no condition to travel anyway." Bo said as he looked at Peridot. "We're both weak, we have nowhere to go, and we're being hunted. Remember?" Peridot scowled at him before she turned away again.

"Hunted?" Pearl said. "Who would be hunting you?"

"Some psychotic madman that seems to have a vendetta against anything with a gem in it." Bo said as he tapped his collar. "And the leader of the guys that placed these collars on us."

"Someone on this planet knows about gems?!" Pearl asked in surprise.

"Pretty much." Bo said. "And after catching Peridot, he's gotten stronger. Seems that Peridot here had a bit of gem tech that the head jerkwad found very interesting. What was it you said you brought out of your escape pod? A gem de-stabilizer?" The gems faces dropped between horror filled and scowling, the memory of Garnet being forced to unfuse and retreat back into her gems coming to their minds.

"So, what does this guy want?" Steven asked in worry.

"Don't know." Bo said. "Right now, the only thing I know is that all the gems on this planet are in a lot of trouble."

"The only gems on this planet are us and the corrupted ones that are either out in the world, or bubbled inside the temple." Pearl argued, earning a low chuckle from Bo.

"Peridot was right. You guys are clods." Bo said, earning a collective glare from them. "If you guys thought that you were the only gems still on this planet, then you know nothing."

* * *

A/N: How am I doing so far?


	4. Morning

It was now night, and the temple was quiet. Steven and the gems had kept on asking them questions throughout the day, but didn't get any useful answers out of them. Bo was sleeping on one part of the couch, which confused Peridot, while Peridot sat up on the other end, with Garnet sitting in the corner to keep watch over them. Pearl and Amethyst had retired to their rooms, and Steven was now sleeping up in his room. Peridot just looked around the room from her spot on the couch, wondering what function some of the devices and strange objects in the room were. Her eyes stopped every once in a while at the portrait of Rose Quartz hanging above the door before looking up at where Steven had retired to.

"Why does she look like that?" Peridot mumbled.

"Hmm?" Garnet said as she turned her head to look at her.

"Why has Rose Quartz taken on that tiny form? And why does she and everyone else call her Steven?" Peridot asked. Garnet looked up at the tiny space that was Steven's room.

"Because Steven is Rose's child." she answered. Peridot's eyes widened in confusion before her scowl returned.

"That's impossible." Peridot said. "Gems cannot conceive."

"Rose found a way." Garnet said. "She gave birth to Steven."

"But he has her gem." Peridot argued. Garnet didn't say anything as she stared at Peridot, her visor hiding her softened eyes.

"That's because Steven's birth cost Rose her life." she answered. "And Rose didn't mind."

"...what?" Peridot asked dumbfounded. "That...that doesn't make sense. Why would she do all that?!"

"Love." Garnet answered. Peridot just sat there staring at Garnet, her mind trying to wrap itself around this information. She just closed her gaping mouth and stared off into space after that while Bo's half opened eye closed.

-Morning-

Peridot was still staring off into space, her mind still not comprehending what Garnet told her.

'She gave up her life to give birth to the Steven...for love?' she thought. She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard footsteps from above.

"Looks like Steven's awake." Garnet said.

"Awake?" Peridot said.

"Humans need sleep to function properly." Garnet said as Steven ran downstairs, fully clothed in his usual red shirt with a yellow star on it, blue pants, and sandals.

"Good Morning Garnet!" Steven said with a smile.

"Good Morning Steven." Garnet said, a faint smile on her face.

"Good Morning Peridot." Steven said with a wave.

"What's good about it?" she mumbled.

"Good Morning Bo." Steven said, causing Bo to shift on the couch in his sleep.

"Five more minutes." he slurred as the temple door opened, showing Pearl stepping out. It closed, then opened again to let Amethyst out.

"Hi Pearl. Hi Amethyst." Steven greeted.

"Good Morning Steven." Pearl said while Amethyst waved before heading to the fridge. "I trust you slept well."

"Yeah." Steven said as he helped Amethyst make some food. Pearl then looked down at Bo, who was still sleeping on the couch, then at Amethyst.

"And these two?" she asked Garnet.

"He slept all night, and she didn't try anything." Garnet answered.

"Good." Pearl said as Bo sat up, his hair a mess as he stared at everyone half asleep.

"Where am I?" he yawned.

"You're in our home." Steven answered.

"Huh?" Bo said before he remembed yesterday. "Oh yeah." he said before lying back down.

"Wake up!" Steven said as he started shaking him. "It's morning now!"

"Alright. Alright!" Bo said as he sat up and stretched with a yawn. "I guess sleeping in is forbidden in this house?"

"You wanted to sleep 'in' this strange thing I'm sitting on?" Peridot asked. Bo and Amethyst chuckled at Peridot's ignorance while she stared at the two of them. "What?"

"You made me laugh." Bo said before a smell wafted through his nose. "Are those waffles I smell?" he asked as he looked to see Steven and Amethyst making a few waffles.

"You like mustard or motor oil on yours?" Amethyst asked.

"Uh...Is syrup an option?" Bo asked.

"Eh. More for me." Amethyst said as she dumped both of them on her stack of waffles. Steven just brought a plate of waffles with syrup, which Bo gladly accepted.

"You want some?" Steven asked as he looked at Peridot, who turned away from Steven.

"Gems do not require food." she said.

"Didn't stop her." Bo said as he pointed at Amethyst.

"So, what was your mom like?" Steven suddenly asked, making everyone look at Bo.

"I don't know. My father told me that she died at childbirth, so I never met her." he answered.

"Oh...so you didn't know your mother too?" Steven asked.

"No. But I do have a memento of her." Bo said. "And after I rest and figure out how to get this thing off my neck, I'm gonna go and get it back."

"Get it back?" Pearl said.

"It was taken from me by the same guys who gave us there collars." Bo said before he ate the last of his waffles.

"We can help you get it back!" Everyone looked at Steven, who was looking at Bo with a smile before looking at the gems. "Right guys?"

"Oh no." Pearl said.

"What? Why not?" Steven whined.

"Steven, we don't know who he is, or if he's telling the truth." Garnet said.

"Yeah, it could just be a trap." Amethyst said.

"Believe me, or don't believe me." Bo said. "Either way, when I've regained my full strength, I'm heading back to retrieve it."

"Come on guys." Steven pleaded. "It's all he has left of his mom! If all I had was one tiny memento of mom, I wouldn't mind help getting it back." The three gems looked at each other as Steven continued to try and get them to help. Garnet silenced Steven by gently placing a hand on his head.

"We'll think about it." she said. Steven smiled before hugging Garnet. He then dragged Bo outside, saying that he was gonna show him around Beach City.

"Are you sure about this Garnet?" Pearl asked.

"We'll wait and see what happens." Garnet said as she adjusted her visor. "Right now, we need to get ready for some unwanted company."

-Meanwhile-

Police cars and other vehicles were parked off a road, a group of each of them flooding around a banged up blue van. Their attention was solely on the van, so none of them noticed a car driving safely past them, one of it's occupants pulling out a cellphone.

"The van's being searched by the police." came a low voice.

 _"And the prisoners?"_ asked a voice on the other end.

"No sign of them. Orders?"

 _"Remain inconspicuous. Their Inhibitor Collars have a tracker inside them. I want those two found!"_

"And if anyone tries to stop us?"

 _"Dispose of them."_

"Understood." he said before hanging up the phone and pulling out a laptop. He clicked on the keyboard before it showed a map with three dots on it. The blue dot was them, while the two red dots were about 17 miles away in a small town. "We're going to Beach City."

* * *

A/N: I'm really hoping I'm keeping these guys in character. Also, what kind of weapon should Bo have? If nothing else, I'm thinking of a massive Morning Star.


	5. A tour and Unwelcomed Visitors

A/N: As the summary said, this is an AU story since it takes place before Peridot went back to the Kindergarten. Also, please leave a review. I'd like to know what everyone thinks of this fic.

* * *

Steven dragged Bo across Beach City for a tour. The first stop: It's A Wash.

"Dad!" Steven called as he ran towards the van that was parked outside. Bo was running while trying to keep his loose shorts from falling off as Greg came out of the car wash.

"Hey Steven." Greg said before he saw Bo. "And Bo."

"Hello Mr. Universe." Bo greeted with a wave before reaching down at his shorts. "Thanks for the clothes."

"Yeah. Sorry about the size." he apologized. "I've got your old shorts washed if you want them."

"That would be great." Bo said. Greg gave Bo his white shorts, freshly cleaned, before Bo went inside the van and shut the door to change.

"You okay Steven?" Greg asked his son.

"Yeah, why?" Steven asked.

"I'm just a little nervous is all." Greg said. "Has that guy tried hurting you at all?"

"No. He's been eating and sleeping so far. I'm taking him around Beach City." Steven said. Greg looked at the van as Bo came out before looking back at Steven.

"Alright. But if anything happens, let the gems handle it." Greg said.

"Okay dad." Steven said as Bo joined them. He was now in his clean, but tattered, white shorts, oversized white shirt, barefoot, and his collar. "Bo, this is my dad's work. He washes cars."

"And a musician." Bo said. "I heard him playing his guitar before I ran. We're you in a band once?"

"He was a One Man Band." Steven said. "He also met my mom when he was doing a show here in Beach City."

"You mean the woman in the portrait above the front door at your house?" Bo said.

"That's her." Steven said. "Well, see you later dad. Come on, Bo. There's more to see!" he said.

"Are you always so full of energy?" Bo asked.

"Almost entirely." Greg chuckled before turning to Steven. "One more thing Steven. All that talk about Bo being a prisoner and Peridot is not to be talked about in public. We don't need to scare the city.

"Okay dad." Steven said before he and Bo walked away. "So, can you summon a weapon like me?" Steven asked.

"Not with this thing on." Bo said as he pointed at his neck.

"Oh...How about shapeshifting?" Again, Bo pointed at the collar, causing Steven to have a thinking face. "What about-"

"Let's just say that I'm completely unable to do anything that a gem can do as long as I have this collar on my neck." Bo said. Steven kept quiet before they got to the Big Donut.

"This is the Big Donut." Steven said as they walked inside. "My friends, Sadie and Lars, work here selling donuts."

"I remember seeing those two." Bo said as they walked up to the counter, where Lars and Sadie were talking before seeing Steven and Bo approach them.

"Hey Steven." Sadie greeted before looking at Bo. "Is that the guy from yesterday?"

"His name's Bo." Steven said before grabbing Bo's right hand and raising it. "He's got a gem too! See?" Sadie and Lar looked at it before Lars groaned.

"If you're anything like Steven, then we're gonna have more messes to clean up." he complained.

"You mean _I'm_ gonna have more messes to clean up. You hardly clean anything." Sadie corrected before turning to the two of them. "So, what would you like?"

"Oh, we already ate. I'm just showing him around Beach City." Steven said.

"Oh. Well, I hope you enjoy the tour." Sadie said.

"Next time, don't come in here while you're bleeding." Lars said.

"Sorry for making a mess." Bo said sarcastically as he and Steven walked out of the building.

"Why were you covered in blood?" Steven asked.

"They didn't exactly throw flowers when Peridot and I broke out and ran." Bo said as they walked. "So, where to next?"

"Let's see." Steven said before smiling and running off. "This way!" Bo ran after him as Steven ran towards Beach Citywalk Fries.

"I'm guessing this place sells french fries?" Bo said as he caught up to Steven.

"And bits!" Steven said as Mr. Fryman walked towards them.

"Hey Steven. A little early for fry bits." he said.

"I'm just showing my new friend around Beach City." Steven said. "This is Bo." Mr. Fryman looked at Bo, who waved back while looking at him.

"Hi there." Bo said.

"Hey there. Never seen you before. Welcome to Beach City." Mr. Fryman said.

"Have you seen Peedee and Ronaldo? I wanted them to meet Bo." Steven said.

"They're out back." Mr. Fryman said.

"Thanks. We'll be back later for the bits. Come on Bo." Steven said before running off.

"I have a feeling that all that I'm gonna do today is run." Bo said as he ran off after Steven towards the back of the establishment. He stopped when he saw Steven talking to Ronaldo and Peedee, who were throwing some garbage into the dumpster.

"Is that him?" Peedee asked when he saw Bo walking towards them.

"That's Bo." Steven said. "He got here yesterday. Bo, meet Peedee and Ronaldo. Ronaldo and Peedee, meet Bo."

"Hi." Bo said with a wave before Ronaldo snapped his picture with his phone. "What was that?"

"Steven said that you have a gem on your hand, making you a half gem hybrid like him!" Ronaldo said before he looked at his right hand and took a picture of it. "I'm gonna send this to my blog!"

"Blog? As in an internet blog?" Bo asked.

"Yeah! It's called 'Keep Beach City Weird'! Everyone's gonna love this!" he said before Bo pulled the phone out of his hand. "Hey! Give it back! You can't keep people from knowing the truth!"

"What's wrong Bo?" Steven said. Bo dragged him away from the other two while erasing the pictures of himself from the phone.

"If he puts my picture on his blog, then there's a good chance that the people who put these collars on mine and Peridot's neck could find us!" Bo explained. "And if they find us, there's a good chance they may take your family prisoner as well!" Steven gasped in horror as he imagined the Crystal Gems looking like how Bo and Peridot did when he first saw them.

"NOOO!" Steven yelled before taking Ronaldo's phone and throwing it in the dumpster.

"Hey!" Ronaldo yelled as he retrieved his phone while Bo and Steven ran. Ronaldo picked up the phone and searched through it, but groaned after awhile. "Aw man! They erased the photos!"

"Maybe he's camera shy." Peedee said.

"Doesn't matter." Ronaldo said. "The people deserve to know the truth!"

-With Steven-

Steven and Bo kept on running through Beach City before Steven's stamina ran out and he had to take a breather. He was leaning up against a wall while Bo stood next to them, only slightly winded.

"You ran pretty far for a kid." Bo said as Steven tried to catch his breath. "We still gonna tour the rest of this place?"

"Later." Steven wheezed before he stood up. "Right now, I just wanna see the others." Bo smiled as the two of them started walking towards the temp-

BZZZZT!

"GAAAAAAHHH!" Bo fell to the ground, his collar sending currents of electricity throughout his system as his body twitched and thrashed around.

"Bo!" Steven yelled as he ran to him. "Bo! What's wrong?!" Steven frantically asked before someone grabbed him from behind. Steven struggled while two other men came out and began dragging Bo away.

"HQ. This is Extraction team." said a fourth man. "Male hybrid is secured. Unknown boy was with him. Female subject still at large. Will search and capture, then return to base."

 _"Understood."_ came a voice on the other end. The man hung up as Steven struggled.

"Who are you?! Let us go!" he yelled before the man clamped his hand over his mouth. Steven struggled more before he bit the man's hand. The man dropped Steven, who quickly summoned a bubble and expanded it to knock the other men away from Bo before reforming it around the both of them. "Bo! Wake up!"

"Ungh." Bo groaned as he struggled to stand while the four men began pounding on the bubble. Steven was struggling with the bubble before two gauntlets, a whip, and a spear knocked the men out.

"Steven!" Pearl shouted as she ran towards him, followed by Garnet and Amethyst. "I'm so glad you're okay! Garnet said someone was coming! Who are these strange men?!"

"First things first. Pearl. Amethyst. Take Steven and Bo back to the temple." Garnet ordered. "And Amethyst. Leave me a whip."

-Later-

The authorities got an anonymous tip about some strange men trying to abduct children and came to find four men tied up in a strange whip before hauling them all away. Garnet watched from a distance with a smile before heading off towards the temple.


	6. Free!

Garnet returned to the Beach House before she and the others began to have a serious talk about what had just transpired in town.

"So, here's what we know." Garnet started. "The ones who placed the collar on your necks have shown up in Beach City." Bo painfully nodded while Peridot looked terrified.

"Please tell me this information in incorrect." Peridot begged.

"Sorry Peridot." Bo said as he looked at her. "But they're here. And they want the both of us back."

"No no no no no!" Peridot said before she painfully curled into the ball and just trembled where she sat on the couch.

"Well, thanks to Greg calling the authorities on our behest, we won't have to worry about them." Pearl said.

"Wrong." Bo said. "Those guys were probably just the bottom of the barrel. Next time, they're gonna send someone better."

"Like what? Five guys next time?" Amethyst joked.

"You wish." Bo said as he slowly sat up on the couch. "We have got to get this collars off."

"How?" Steven asked. "Is there like a key that goes to it?"

"Don't know." Bo said. "But that was why we came here."

"Why exactly here?" Garnet asked.

"Peridot said that if she could get her hands on some tech, she might find a way to get these things off." Bo answered. Everyone looked at Peridot, who was still curled up on the couch.

"Oh no! Absolutely not!" Pearl stated while Amethyst took out her whip. "We are not letting her near any technology!"

"But then how are we gonna get those things off of her and Bo?" Steven said.

"Steven. We know you mean well, and that you don't like to see gems fighting other gems, or gems being hurt." Garnet said. "But we can't risk her being near gem technology. We don't trust her." Steven just looked up at her while she looked back down at him. "I'm sorry Steven. But the answer this time is no." Steven looked at the ground while Bo began to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Steven asked.

"Peridot was right. You guys _are_ a bunch of clods." Bo said, earning a glare from the gems.

"So we're clods because we're afraid of what Peridot might do if she's free to do what she wants?" Pearl asked.

"You're clods because you're letting your anger and fear of her blind you to the bigger threat." Bo said. "Someone out there knows about gems, is targeting and capturing gems, and now has gem tech that can, as Peridot told me, force you guys to retreat back into your gems. I don't know about you guys, but I think stopping those gem hunters is important enough to bury your grudges for the moment." Everyone was staring at Bo as he finished speaking his mind. Garnet remained neutral while the rest scowled at the ground. They didn't want to admit it, but Bo was right. Humans with gem tech hunting gems was what they should be more focused on. Time felt like it had gone on for hours as the room remained quiet before Garnet shocked them all.

"Alright."

"WHAT?!" Pearl and Amethyst shouted in confusion and shock. Steven looked at her with a small smile, Peridot looked at her in shock, and Bo just sat on the couch watching everything.

"Bo is right." Garnet said. "If these humans are hunting gems, we need to stop them. And, if there are other gems out there, we can save them. They'll definitely be a big help in case Homeworld sends something else."

"More Crystal Gems?" Steven said with a huge smile. And here Steven thought that having Cookie Cats coming back would be the best thing ever.

"What if they're just Homeworld Gems?" Amethyst asked. "I mean, Bo's gem there was once a powerful Homeworld Gem."

"She does have a good point Garnet." Pearl added.

"If that happens, we force them into their gems and bubble them." Garnet said before standing in front of Peridot. "Alright Peridot. We'll bring out whatever we can find that you could use to get those collars off. But make no mistake," she said before lifting her off the couch and making her gauntlets appear and held one up to her face. "Try anything funny, and I will Break. Your. Gem. Do you understand?" Peridot stared at Garnet, sweating in terror, before swallowing the lump in her throat she didn't know she had.

"I understand." she squeeked out.

-3 hours later-

The Gems and Steven brought bits and pieces of everything that could be used to Peridot, who was busy pulling them apart and trying to apply them to the few fragments of gem tech and gem ship that they had. The gems kept watch as she worked, while occasionally telling Steven to ease up on the questions about the device.

"How do you humans live with such primitive technology?" Peridot grumbled, both from pain and annoyance, as she attached a few wires together.

"We make do with what we have with what little time we have on this planet." Bo said as he carefully slipped a bunch of rubber gloves under his collar while Steven stared at Peridot's contraption. So far, all it looked like was a 2 ft. x 2 ft. cube with two pincers sticking on one side with the points close together, and random bits of gem tech and household appliances on the others sides.

"What's this supposed to do?" Steven asked. Peridot looked at Steven, who was uncomfortably close, before moving the device away.

"If I've connected everything here accordingly, the two points here will absorb the electric discharge that the collar emits when one attempts to remove it by force, amplify it, and feed it back into the collar, thereby frying the circuits and rendering the collar useless." Peridot explained before connecting the last wire.

"Oh." Steven said before looking at Bo. "And why's Bo sticking rubber gloves under his collar?"

"So that I don't get zapped." Bo explained.

"How come Bo's going first?" Amethyst asked with narrowed eyes. "Why don't you try it out first?"

"Because I have no clue if this will work." Peridot answered back. "And he also asked to go first. Now Bo, all you have to do is ease your neck close enough so that the collar fights between the two points." Bo nodded before gently easing himself close until the collar was sitting between the two points. Steven crossed his fingers while the others watched before Peridot hit the button on the device. "Don't move." she said as the device came to life. The pincers pinched the device, causing it to spark with electricity. Bo let his breath out when he didn't feel a shock as parts of the device began to glow with electricity running through it. "It's working so far." she said as the device began feeding electricity back into the collar. The collar's circuits were starting to overload before the device glowed brighter before it began to sputter and shake.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Steven asked when the device began to smoke.

"No!" Peridot yelped before she, the gems, and Steven ran for cover. Bo stood up, only to see that the device was stuck to him, and was now glowing bright before sending out a blinding flash before it fell with a 'CLANG' on the floor. No one moved for a few tense moments before the Crystal Gems and Steven peeked out from behind the counter. Peridot was still waiting for an explosion as she stayed curled up with her fingers in her ears. When nothing happened, she stood up and looked as well. She looked down at the device, which was now a heap of smoking metal and frayed wires.

"Did it work?" Pearl asked as Bo picked something off the floor. In his hands was a burnt and broken collar.

"It worked!" he said as he dropped it and felt his collarless neck. "It worked! I'M FREE!" He began to dance around the house like he was Steven's age, happy to be rid of the collar that zapped him, with Steven joining in the happy mood. The Crystal Gems smiled while Peridot looked down at the broken device with a scowl. Steven noticed and stopped dancing before he walked over to Peridot.

"Can you fix it?" he asked before the device fell apart even more.

"No." Peridot growled before kicking the useless pile of scrap. "Now I'm stuck with this rotten thing on my neck!"

"Well, we'll just have to find some more parts and you can remake it." Steve said.

"I've got a better idea." Garnet said. Everyone looked to see Garnet slip a pair of rubber gloves over her hands before handing the rest to Peridot. "You slip these under your collar, and I'll rip it off."

"Are you telling me I spent three hours making this contraption for nothing?!" Peridot yelled.

"No. You spent three hours showing us that our trust wasn't misplaced when we let you near gem tech." Garnet answered with a smile. "Now slip those gloves under the collar."

"I. Hate. You." Peridot stated as she carefully began sliding the rubber gloves under her collar while Amethyst laughed at the whole situation.

"Could you do that all this time?" Bo asked.

"Yes. But I wanted to see if she could be trusted." Garnet answered before a small smile came to her face. "That, and I was wondering if any of you get the idea sooner." Now Bo and Steven joined Amethyst in laughing before Peridot huffed with her arms crossed.

"I'm done." she grunted. Garnet nodded before reaching over and pulling the device apart. Peridot blinked before she felt her neck, now free of her collar.

"You're welcome." Garnet said.

"Now you're both free!" Steven said as he walked up to Peridot. "Isn't that gre-"

POOF!

Peridot vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving her gem and body parts to fall to the ground.

"Uh, sick! There's bits of her all over!" Amethyst said as she grimaced.

"No. She's right here." Garnet said as she picked up Peridot's gem.

"But, why'd she just poof like that?" Steven asked with a frown.

"Possibly to properly heal and regenerate." Pearl said. "The question is, what should we do with her?"

"Bubble her and get on with our lives." Amethyst said.

"As much as we hate Peridot, we still need answers." Garnet said before handing Peridot's gem to Steven. "Keep her safe until she returns, but keep close to one of us until she does, Steven."

"You got it!" Steven said before turning to Bo, only to find him asleep on the couch. "He's asleep?"

"Looks like they both need some rest." Garnet said as she bubbled Peridot's body parts and sent them away. "Leave him be." Steven just looked at Bo before nodding with a smile as the Gems went about the day like normal.


	7. The Weapon of Bo

A/N: In case I didn't say it before, Bo is a few centimeters shorter than Pearl.

* * *

Steven was waiting for the Crystal Gems to return after they left to try and find Malachite. Steven was left behind to keep an eye on the newly freed Bo, and to contact them in case Peridot reformed and tried to run away. It had already been an hour and Steven was quietly reading a book while Bo lightly snored on the couch before someone began knocking on the door. Steven looked before a smile came to his face and he ran towards the door to open it.

"Connie!" he said in joy.

"Hey Steven." she said with a smile before Steven let her in. She looked around the room to see if the other gems were there before she noticed Bo sleeping on the couch. "Who's that?"

"Huh?" Steven said before he realized what she was talking about. "Oh yeah! This is Bo!"

"Bo?" Connie said in confusion.

"He's just like me!" Steven said before walking over towards Bo and lifting his right hand up, revealing his Black Onyx gem. "His mom was a gem like my mom. Now he's got her gem." Connie still looked confused before Steven began to explain what has happened in the past two days.

"So, he's a half gem like you, there's a Homeworld Gem is in your pocket, and both of them were being held prisoner by some strange people that put some kind of shock collar on them, and are also hunting gems." Connie summed up.

"That's it." Steven said as he pulled Peridot's gem out of his pocket and showed it to her. Connie looked at the gem in Steven's hands before taking it into her own hands. She stared down at Peridot's gem with a blank look before her eyebrows furrowed.

'This is one of the gems that tried to kidnap the Crystal Gems. That tried to kidnap Steven!' she thought as she glared at the gem.

"Connie? Connie!" Steven said. "CONNIE!"

"Huh?" Connie said as she looked at him.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." she said before handing Steven Peridot's gem.

"Hey!" Bo grumbled from the couch before sitting up and looking at Steven while rubbing his eyes. "What's with all the noise?"

"Sorry Bo." Steven said before he smiled. Now was the perfect opportunity for introductions. "Bo, I'd like you to meet my friend, Connie." Bo looked at Connie, who smiled.

"Pleased to meet you." she said as she held her hand out. Bo shook it with his hand before stretching his arms up.

"Did I fall asleep?" Bo asked.

"Yeah, right after Peridot poofed." Steven said while Bo yawned.

"How long was I out?"

"An hour." Steven said as Bo looked around. "The others left to try and find Jasper and Lapis Lazuli."

"Ah, the two gems that you told me about." Bo said before he stood up and stretched. "Good nap."

"Aren't they at the bottom of the ocean?" Connie asked.

"Yeah." Steven said glumly.

"Hey now." Bo said. "Cheer up. What if Lapis walked in and saw you looking sad? Would that be any way to greet her?" Steven looked up at Bo, who smiled down at him. Steven nodded and smiled, but it still looked sad. Bo thought for a moment before he said, "You wanna fight?"

"Huh?" both Connie and Steven asked.

"Just something to pass the time." Bo said. "Besides, we need everyone that we can get to fight the guys that are hunting gems."

"Can you summon your weapon now?" Steven asked. Bo smirked before holding his right hand up. His gem glowed before his gem weapon materialized in his hand: A scythe. It was around a foot and a half taller than Bo with a straight handle that curved at the top and was as black as his gem. It bore three long blades on one end, and a small, 3 inch spear like point on the tip at the other end. The blades were a gleaming silver, each blade two inches apart from each other. The top blade was four feet long, the middle blade was 2 1/2 feet, and the bottom blade was 1 ft. long.

"That answer your question?" Bo asked while Steven and Connie gasped at the sight of his gem weapon. Bo smiled, seeing as Steven was no longer gloomy. Just then, the warp pad activated, revealing Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl.

"Yet another unsuccessful search." Pearl grumbled as the light died down.

"Guys! Welcome back!" Steven yelled.

"Hello Steven." Pearl said before she saw Connie standing next to Bo. She looked before she caught sight of Bo's scythe and gasped. "Where on Earth did you get that?!"

"It's mine." Bo said before he made it disappear. "Watch." he said before making it appear again.

"That scythe!" Garnet said. "It looks exactly like Black Onyx's scythe."

"Then...he really is her child?" Pearl said in quiet astonishment.

"Told ya." Bo said as he placed the scythe over his shoulder while Amethyst walked over to them.

"Pretty cool!" Amethyst said. "Can you fight with it?"

"Sure can." Bo said. "In fact, I was asking Steven here if he wanted to fight."

"What?!" Pearl yelled with wide eyes while Garnet and Amethyst looked at Bo.

"Do you always yell when you're surprised?" Bo asked. "Also, what's wrong with us fighting? It's not like we'd be fighting to the death. Just a little training." Pearl didn't say anything as she stared at Bo and his scythe. She didn't want to admit it, but his stance and the way that he held the scythe reminded her of Black Onyx when they met on the battlefield 5,000 years ago.

"We knew your mother." Garnet said for Pearl when she noticed Pearl's uneasy expression. "It was 5,000 years ago during the Gem War that we met her. She was one of Homeworld's mightiest gem warriors."

"She was strong, intelligent, and had a fierce sense of determination." Pearl added. "Just seeing that scythe brings back those memories." Bo looked at her before holding his scythe with both hands in front of him and stared at the weapon.

"So my mom was an enemy to you guys." he said.

"She was." Garnet said. "But she wasn't a cold gem. She never destroyed any of our comrades. She would force them into their gems, place them where she thought they'd be safe to regenerate, and then move on to the next fight. Despite loyalty to Homeworld, she despised the thought of having to crush a gem, enemy or not." Bo smiled at Garnet's words, glad to know something else about the mother he never met. "As for your fight," Garnet continued. "You may."

"Garnet!" Pearl said before Garnet held up her hand.

"But I'll be the one to fight you." Garnet finished while summoning her gauntlets. "Besides, I wanna see if you're as good as your mother was."

"Okay." Bo said with a smile as the gems lead him to the warp pad. "What's this thing do?"

"Hold on!" Steven said as he and Connie held their hands out to the side as the warp pad activated. A few moments later, they were at the Warp Pad of the Ancient Sky Arena, where Bo fell from where he floated in the warp stream with a thud.

"Ow." Bo said as Steven and Connie helped him up while giggling.

"You'll get the hang of it." Steven said before they all entered the arena. Pearl explained what the place was before she and the others exited the arena, leaving Bo and Garnet to face each other at opposite ends. Bo summoned his scythe while Garnet summoned her gauntlets while everyone else stood on the sidelines to stay out of the way.

"Just so you all know, I won't be holding back!" Bo yelled.

"Neither will I!" Garnet said as Pearl stood off to the side with her hand raised.

"Knock him out!" Amethyst yelled while laughing.

"Good luck Garnet!" Steven yelled.

"Be careful Garnet!" Connie yelled.

"Let the match...BEGIN!" Pearl announced as she brought her hand down. Garnet and Bo slowly began circling the arena, their eyes not leaving the other for an instant. Bo was the first to react as he ran towards her, scythe in hand, while she stood there smiling. Bo was a few feet away before swing at her midsection with both hands, only to hit nothing but air as Garnet ducked down. Bo didn't have time to react before Garnet brought a massive uppercut to his jaw, knocking him into the air before he slammed down hard.

"Ouch!" Amethyst laughed. "That had to hurt!"

"Bo!" Steven yelled in panic as Bo rolled over onto all fours. He stood up and rubbed his chin before turning back to Garnet, who lifted his scythe with one hand and turned to him.

"Looks like you need more practice." she said before tossing him his scythe, which he caught with both hands. "A lot more practice."

"Thanks for stating the obvious." Bo said before he began to swing wildly at her. Garnet dodged each swing that Bo threw at her before grabbing the blades mid-swing. Bo struggled to pull his scythe free before Garnet pulled him closer to deliver a kick to his stomach, knocking the wind out of the half gem teen.

"Go Garnet!" Steven yelled as Bo struggled to stand. Two hits and he was already wanting to call it a day. He shook his head before standing tall, staring at Garnet as she threw his scythe back at him.

"Third times the charm." Bo said before he ran and jumped towards her, his scythe behind his back. Garnet readied herself to end the fight, so she didn't see Bo smirk while his scythe split into two smaller, one bladed sickles. Bo brought the sickles down, only for Garnet to easily grab them both, leaving Bo hanging in mid-air and looking straight at Garnet with shock on his face.

"Ah crud." Bo muttered before Garnet punched him in the face, sending him skidding across the arena floor. He struggled to stand, but that last hit was too much and he just laid there defeated.

"I give. Uncle!" Bo said from where he lay.

"Alright Garnet!" Steven yelled as he and the others all rushed around Garnet, congratulating her for her victory while she and everyone walked towards Bo. Steven looked at Bo before his good mood deflated and he looked up at Garnet. "Did you have to hit him that hard though?"

"We both said that we weren't gonna hold back." Garnet said.

"You totally owned the fight!" Amethyst said.

"His technique and form were terrible." Pearl stated. "All he did was wildly swing it everywhere."

"Sorry for not being perfect with it." Bo grumbled as he sat up off the ground and rubbed his sore face. "Geez, you hit hard."

"Next time, I won't use my weapon." Garnet said with a small smile. "Still, Pearl's right. You need more practice."

"Heh. Training against someone else is a lot tougher than training alone." Bo said as he stared at the ground.

"All you need is a little practice." Garnet said.

"We can help you!" Steven said before he looked at the others. "Right?"

"He would be a great asset if he can learn to properly fight with his scythe." Pearl contemplated.

"Eh. I just wanna see if he can get good enough to land a single hit." Amethyst shrugged.

"Garnet?" Steven said, waiting for her to throw her opinion into the mix. Everyone looked at Garnet while she looked down at Bo.

"Bo," Garnet said, getting him to look up. A small smile came to her lips before she held out her hand. "How'd you like to train with us?" Everyone smiled as Bo held his hand up and grabbed her hand.

"When do we start?" Bo asked.

* * *

A/N: Please give your opinions to Bo's weapon. I'm no weapon designer, so I didn't know any better way to describe it.


	8. Underwater Exploration

A/N: I forgot to say, the first chapters were to introduce Bo and a glimpse at the new threat. Now I'm gonna really start getting this story going. Also, Bo's hair is about as long as Greg's.

* * *

Almost everyone had returned from the Ancient Sky Arena after Garnet whipped Bo in combat. Bo was now sitting on the couch, nursing his wounds and making sure he still had all his teeth, Steven went out to get the fry bits they forgot to get yesterday, Garnet and Amethyst retired to their rooms, and Pearl and Connie stayed at the Ancient Sky Arena so Connie could practice her swordsmanship.

"I'm gonna feel this for a week." Bo mumbled as he rubbed his jaw. "I wonder where everyone went?" He looked around at the inside of the house before he spotted the door that Garnet and Amethyst disappeared into. "Do they all share a room or something?" he said before he reached at his chest. He blinked before looking down with a sad scowl. "Oh yeah. Those assholes took it from me." He sighed before he stood up and walked outside. He breathed in the salty air from the ocean as he stared out at sea. "I'm bored. I have no clue where those guys are, I need practice with my weapon, Peridot's inside her gem, and everyone else is gone." He sighed as he stared out sea again before looking at his gem. He blinked at his gem before looking back out at sea. "Hmm."

-Later-

Steven walked up the stairs with a bag of fry bits in his hand before walking through the door.

"I brought the bits!" Steven yelled as he walked in, hoping Bo liked them. His smile changed to a look of confusion as he noticed that Bo wasn't there. "Bo? Where are you?" He placed the fry bits on the counter and looked around the house, but couldn't find him. He decided to knock on the gem door and called out for Garnet and Amethyst. The door did nothing at first before it opened up to Amethyst's room, with Amethyst standing there holding something.

"Hey Steven! Look what I found!" Amethyst said as she brought out a pizza box with a whole pizza full of mold and such all over it. "I wondered where this went." she said before tilting the box and devouring the whole thing.

"Have you seen Bo?" Steven asked. "I went out to get fry bits, but he was gone when I came back."

"Haven't seen him." Amethyst said before belching and walking past him and to the counter. "If he's not here, then I'll eat these." she said as she picked up the bag of fry bits.

"Amethyst! I got those for Bo to eat." Steven said before a slip of paper fell off the bottom of the bag. Amethyst and Steven looked down at the paper and read it before Steven grabbed it, ran for the gem door, and began banging on it, calling Garnet's name over and over before she finally appeared.

"Something wrong?" Garnet asked a panicking Steven. Steven showed her the piece of paper that he read earlier.

 _Gonna try and find that fusion in the sea._

 _-Bo_

"I'll go look for him." Garnet simply said as she walked out the door while summoning a pair of swimming goggles. "Stay here in case he returns." she said before leaping away from the Beach House and into the sea.

"I'm gonna go out to the beach!" Steven said before running out the door. Amethyst stared at the door before shrugging and began eating the fry bits.

-Garnet's P.O.V.-

Garnet was swimming near the surface of the water, looking around for any sign of Bo. As she swam, Ruby and Sapphire had an conversation with herself.

 **"Of all the boneheaded stunts!"**

"He probably just wanted to help."

 **"How! By getting killed by Malachite?!"**

"We didn't forbid him to leave the house. He was free to make his own choices."

 **"He should've been smart enough to know that he couldn't do anything, even if he did find her!"**

"The note said that he'd look for Malachite, not fight her."

 **"Yeah right! Like Malachite would let him leave so easily if he found her!"**

"Let us find him first. He couldn't have gone very far." Garnet kept on swimming, keeping her three eyes peeled as she looked around. So far, nothing but fish and water in every direction. She looked in every direction before looking down at the deeper waters.

 **"How far down did that guy go?!"**

"Only one way to found." Garnet decided to dive deeper into the sea until she was at the bottom. The sea around here wasn't very deep, as the light from the sun still reached down to the floor.

"Where is he?" Garnet said to herself before she used her Future-Vision. She stopped when she saw Bo in one of her visions before swimming rather quickly in one direction. She kept on swimming before a giant figure was within her sight. It looked like a gigantic angler fish with many rows of sharp teeth, and a gem shining inside the end of the lure. She summoned her gauntlets as the beast thrashed around in the water violently as it's jaws were slowly forced open, revealing none other than Bo.

"Stupid...overgrown...reject sushi platter!" he grunted as he did his best to keep the jaws open.

"Bo!" Garnet yelled as she swam up to him. She looked at him and noticed a few changes about him. There was webbing between his fingers, his feet turned into flippers, and gills were on his neck. Bo looked up at Garnet before forcing a smile.

"Hey Garnet!" he said. "Love to talk, but we got a monster here!" Garnet swam up and knocked the fish away with a punch, allowing Bo to swim out to safety. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me." Garnet said. "You're next for doing something like this." Bo chuckled nervously before Garnet noticed the fish coming back. "Ready yourself!" Garnet said. Bo summoned his scythe as the fish swam towards them. Garnet reached out and grabbed it's teeth as it tried to eat her, keeping it's jaw closed. "Bo!"

"On it!" Bo said as he swam for the lure and swung at it, only to miss as the angler jerked away. "I can't swing this thing underwater!" he said in annoyance before he changed it to a sickle. "Gotta get closer!" He swam towards the angler as it thrashed around, with Garnet still keeping it's jaw closed. He swam up to it's lure and grabbed just where the lure met flesh with his free hand before bringing the sickle down on it, severing the gem from the body. The fish stopped for a moment before it poofed, leaving Garnet and Bo floating underwater with the gem. Garnet swam to it, bubbled it, and sent it away before turning to Bo with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Care to explain what you were doing out here?" she asked.

"No one was at the house, so I decided to see if I could help you guys by finding that fusion." Bo said.

"And what would you have done if you found her?" Garnet asked.

"Swim away and get you guys." Bo said. "If she was anything like how you guys described her, then there was no way I'd try and fight her."

"Smart." Garnet said. "Now follow me."

-Up on shore-

Steven was watching to sea with worry in his eyes, hoping that Garnet would find Bo.

"Steven!" Steven turned to see Pearl and Connie running towards Steven. "Amethyst showed me the note. Did he really try to find Malachite?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah." Steven said.

"This is completely crazy!" Pearl said as Connie sat next to Steven. "What was he thinking?!"

"Let's ask him when he and Garnet come back." Connie said as she placed her hand on Steven's shoulder.

"I mean, how would he even get down there?" Pearl continued from next to Steven. "She's probably at the bottom of the ocean. Humans can't reach that far down. The pressure from that deep would be too much for humans to withstand. It'd probably crush him in-"

"Pearl!" Connie said, stopping her rant. Pearl looked down to see Steven's face pale, only now realizing her mistake of speaking her mind. She looked away for a moment before looking back at Steven.

"Well...he is half gem." she said, trying to cheer Steven up. "He'll be okay...hopefully." Connie just glared at Pearl while Steven kept his eyes on the sea before perking up. Two shadows under the water were coming closer before revealing themselves to be Garnet and Bo.

"Garnet! Bo!" Steven yelled. "You're both okay! And...part fish?" Steven finished when he saw Bo's body.

"You asked before if I could shapeshift, right?" Bo said before his body returned to normal. "The answer is yes."

"What were you thinking?" Pearl snapped.

"That I could help?" Bo answered as he rung the water out of his hair. "I left a note."

"Did you find her?" Steven asked.

"No." Bo said. "Just some gem fish that tried to eat me. I'd have been fish food if Garnet hadn't bailed me out."

"Well, let's just hope that you've learned your lesson from all this." Pearl said.

"Bo." Garnet said as she looked him straight in the eye. "We don't know what abilities you can use, or how well you can use them. We do appreciate what you wanted to do, but as long as you're here, you work with us. As a team. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Bo said with a nod.

"Good. Now summon your weapon." Garnet said as she brought out your gauntlets. "We're going to begin your training."

"Right now?" Bo said.

"I told you before," she said as she cracked her neck. "After that fish, you're next." Bo laughed nervously as the star iris closed in on his face.


	9. Shapeshifting

Bo was miserable. His body was a wreck as he sat on the couch, bandages on his arms, legs, and across one of his eyes. Every inch of him was screaming in pain after his and Garnet's last training session, if that's what Garnet calls flawlessly kicking his ass up and down the beach for half an hour. And to make matters worse, Steven moved the TV so he could watch it, but the only thing that was on was Steven's favorite show, Crying Breakfast Friends. Halfway through the first episode and he was ready to break to TV. And he would've too if Steven, Connie and Pearl weren't there.

"What's the point of this show?" Bo asked while looking at Pearl, who was helping Connie clean up the vomit from the pizza and fry bits Amethyst ate earlier. Garnet and Amethyst had gone back to their rooms after they dragged Bo back from the training session

"I haven't the faintest idea." she answered as the show went to commercial. Bo shut his eyes to get a brief rest, consisting of 2 whole seconds before Steven turned to him.

"So how did you shapeshift?" he asked, eager to learn how from a fellow half gem. "I did it once, but all I did was turn my fingers into cats."

"Cat fingers?" Bo asked.

"Yeah, but then it kinda got out of hand and a whole bunch of cat heads started sprouting all over me." Steven said. "I only managed to turn back because I went through the car wash and got all the cats to disappear." Bo couldn't help but laugh, even though it send more pain through his body.

"Don't make me laugh! It hurts!" Bo said. "Have you tried after that?" Steven then explained one time where he accidently turned old.

"I think that counts." Steven said, making Bo laugh more.

"Cats and old men! You're a riot, Steven!" Bo laughed. He laughed before it died down to chuckling.

"What about you?" Connie asked. "Can you do more than what we saw earlier?"

"Yeah, but please don't ask me to do anything now. My body hurts." Bo said.

"Aww." Steven whined. "But I wanna see you change into something now."

"Impatient, aren't we?" Bo said. "Fine. One transformation." Steven grinned with stars in his eyes as Bo slowly sat up. Connie and Pearl watched as well to see what he would transform into. Bo stood straight before he thought of what to change into. A moment passed before he snapped his fingers and light enveloped his body. Steven, Pearl, and Connie watched as Bo shrank before the light faded, revealing Bo's new form.

"HE'S ME!" Steven shouted as he looked at Bo, who looked like Steven aside from the clothes that were now too big for him.

"I like fry bits." Bo said while the others just looked at him.

"I do like fry bits!" Steven said while Connie laughed. Bo smiled before he changed back into himself, then sat down.

"Okay, that's all you get." Bo said.

"That was so cool!" Steven said. "Can you change into animals too?! Maybe a bird! Or maybe a gorilla!" Steven just kept the questions coming while Bo groaned.

"Steven!" Pearl said as she walked up next to him. "Let's let Bo rest for now."

"Alright." Steven said before he walked towards the door. "I'm gonna go get some more fry bits since Amethyst ate the last bad." Steven said before walking out the door.

"I'll go with him." Connie said as she threw away the last of the trash before walking out the door after Steven.

"Thanks." Bo said before lying down on the couch. "Does he always ask questions?"

"You should've seen how persistent he was when we told him about gem fusion." Pearl said. "He spent an entire mission trying to get Amethyst and I to fuse."

"Speaking of fusions," Bo said. "It may just be my imagination, but I think Peridot was bothered when she heard about those other two named Lapis Lazuli and Jasper fusing."

"I hadn't noticed." Pearl said with a disinterested look.

"Hmm." Bo said. "Guess I'll just ask Peridot when she comes out of her gem."

"Well, I personally hope she stays in her gem." Pearl said.

"You seem very miffed at her." Bo said.

"After what she pulled, of course I'm angry." Pearl said before heading for her door. "I'll be in my room." she said before disappearing inside the door. Bo just stared at the door before lying back down and watching TV.

"How can anyone watch this?" he asked when the show came back on.

-10 minutes later-

Bo was resting on the couch, the TV still playing Crying Breakfast Friends, before Steven and Connie walked in.

"Bo! I got you the bits!" Steven yelled.

"I'm right here." Bo said as he sat up. "No need to yell."

"Here you go." Steven said as he handed Bo the bag of fry bits.

"Thanks." Bo said as he grabbed a handful and ate them. "Nice and salty."

"Where'd Pearl go?" Connie asked.

"Back to her room." Bo said. "Peridot came up in a conversation and she got angry and left."

"Oh." Steven said before he took Peridot's gem out of his pocket. "What did you guys talk about?"

"We were talking about how you like to ask questions when something interests you." Bo explained. "She said that you constantly tried to find an excuse to get her and Amethyst to fuse. I said something about how Peridot looked upset about hearing Lapis Lazuli and Jasper fusing. Then she got angry and went to her room."

"She was upset that they fused?" Steven asked.

"She looked like she was, yeah." Bo said. "But only when she heard that Lapis willingly fused with Jasper."

"Why would she be upset?" Connie asked.

"I don't know. It's fusion, so I don't really know anything about it except what you guys have told me." Bo said. "Is it something special to gems?"

"Hold on a sec." Steven said before he ran to the gem door and knocked on it. "Garnet! Can you come out here?" A few seconds passed before the door opened, revealing Garnet.

"Need something?" Garnet asked.

"We were talking about fusion, so I came to ask for your help explaining it." Steven said. Garnet looked at Bo and Connie before walking over and sitting on the couch.

"Start from the beginning." she said. The three of them began to explain about Peridot's reaction when Lapis fusing with Jasper came up. "So you think Peridot is bothered by their fusion? Is that it?"

"That's it." Bo said. "What do you think, Garnet?"

"I can't say." Garnet said. "That's something that you'll have to ask Peridot yourself."

"Alright." Steven said.

"Now, I'm going back to my room." Garnet said. "Steven, leave Bo to rest. He needs to himself to heal."

"Okay." Steven said as he walked up to his room. "I'm gonna leave her gem up here." Steven said as he placed her gem on his bed. "Come back soon, Peridot." Steven said before walking back downstairs. "Let's go Connie. My dad has some really old stuff he said he was gonna sort through today. Wanna see?"

"Sure." Connie said before they left, leaving Garnet to walk into her room, and Bo alone with peace and quiet.

"Finally." Bo muttered before he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Short, but it's here now.


	10. Peridot's Return

Deep in an undisclosed location, a woman was sitting in a chair while staring at the quivering man across from her. He body was completely hidden in shadow while the man stood sweating before her, silently praying as she carefully read the report that she was given.

"So," the shadowed woman began. "The four men that you sent to apprehend the escapees not only fail to do so, they themselves are currently being held for attempted kidnapping?"

"Y-Yes Ma'am. That's correct." stuttered the man. The woman sighed before turned away from him.

"Completely useless." she growled before she snapped her fingers. The man didn't have time to react before he found something placed on his neck. "You know the rules of failure."

"No! NO!" screeched the man as a few figures came out of nowhere and began dragging he hysterical man away. "Please! Another chance! I won't fail you again! PLEASE!"

"I know you won't." she said as the man's screaming voice got softer as he was dragged away. She rubbed her temples before looking at her computer at the files on it. The screen held two names. Peridot, and Bo. She stared at the screen as another man came in.

"Um...Ma'am?" said the man. She stayed motionless while her eye turned from the screen to him.

"Speak." she said in a commanding tone.

"The device that we acquired from the green gem named Peridot..." said the man.

"How is your progress with the device?" she said.

"Well, the trial was a success. All that's left is to test it in the field." he said.

"Excellent." she said with a grin.

-In Beach City-

Time had passed and it was almost dawn of the next day. Steven and Bo were sleeping while the Gems were inside their own rooms. The only sound that could be heard were the waves gently splashing against the shore. Nothing happened before the Temple Door opened, revealing Garnet. She walked out the door, Peridot's limbs floating next to her in a bubble, and up the stairs where Steven was sleeping in his bed. She looked to him before looking at Peridot's gem, which was on top of a curled blanket like Pearl's was. She stared at the gem as it began to glow and levitate into the air. A green light filled the house as a silhouette appeared about the gem. It shaped into a child sized figure before the light faded, revealing Peridot. She landed on the blanket that held her gem before she opened her eyes and looked around.

'Where is this place?' Peridot thought, immediately getting defensive as she reached to activate her blaster, only to find it, along with the rest of her robotic parts gone.

"Don't worry." Garnet said, making her freeze. "You and your body parts are safe."

"Geyaahh!" Peridot squeeled as she whipped her head around to see Garnet standing there and staring at her. Garnet placed a her hand over Peridot's mouth, her other hand moving towards her own lips.

"Shh. You'll wake Steven." she whispered. Peridot stared before her eyes shifted to Steven, who was stirring in his sleep before he stopped and just slept there. "Come downstairs. Quietly." Garnet ordered before softly walking down the stairs. Peridot walked as quietly as possible before falling down the stairs due to imbalance from her limbs being shortened.

"Give me back my limb enhancers!" Peridot snapped, only to shrink back when Garnet turned to her. "...please?" she whispered in fear.

"Better." Garnet said as she handed the bubble holding her parts. Peridot quickly unbubbled her tech and inspected it before she put her limb enhancers back on.

"What exactly has happened since I disappeared to regenerate?" Peridot asked, causing Garnet to stare at her through her visor. Realizing her mistake, and also the fact that Garnet still hated Peridot, she quickly reprashed the question. "I mean, is it alright if I know what's happened while I was regenerating?"

"Not much." Garnet answered. "Bo has shown that he is indeed half gem."

"Is that why he's like...that?" Peridot asked while looking at Bo's beaten form.

"No. He's like that for doing something very stupid." Garnet answered. "And if you don't want to end up back in your gem, you'd be wise to avoid angering any of us. Understand?" Peridot stared in fear before hesitantly nodding at Garnet. "Good. Now, you will stay on the couch until everyone is awake." Garnet said as she moved Peridot to the couch corner before sitting on her left side. Peridot was now sitting int he corner, with Bo sleeping on one side, and Garnet keeping watch on the other. She looked at Bo, then up at where Steven was before sinking into the couch.

"How long until they have awoken from their sleep?" Peridot groaned.

"You'll know." Garnet said, a hint of a smile on her face.

-Morning-

Morning soon came, and the house was still quiet. That all changed when Steven peered down the stairs and saw Peridot had reformed.

"Peridot!" Steven yelled before rushing down the stairs. His yelling of Peridot's name stirred Bo from his sleep, made Peridot jump, and made Pearl and Amethyst run out into the room, weapons drawn. "You're back!" Steven yelled as he ran up next to her.

"Oh great." Amethyst said. "She's back."

"Why is Steven yelling? Is she trying something, Garnet?" Pearl asked.

"She reformed in the middle of the night, so I kept watch until everyone was awake." Garnet said. "All that's happened is that Steven woke up and saw her." Pearl and Amethyst glared at Peridot before reluctantly putting their weapons away. A yawn from the couch caught everyone's attention as Bo sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"What's with all the yelling?" he asked, half awake. He looked around before he understood. "Oh. Hello Peridot. When did you get back?"

"I reformed a few hours ago." she said, a frown on her face as she looked at Garnet. "And I've been under watch since then."

"Ah." Bo said in understanding before lying back down. "I'm going back to bed."

"But it's morning. Time for breakfast!" Steven said as he went to get some food.

"It's gonna be one of those days. I can feel it." Bo grumbled.

"After breakfast, we're going to start some proper training." Garnet said.

"Can I join in?" Steven asked.

"Alright." Garnet said while Bo groaned.

'First she's gonna punch my face with her fists, then he's gonna chew my ears off with questions.' Bo thought. 'I hate today already.'

"Hey Peridot, why'd your arms and legs fall off when you poofed?" Steven suddenly asked. Everyone looked at her as she stared nervously at Steven.

"Uhhh." she said as the star iris closed in on her face.


	11. Kindergarten

A/N: This chapter, along with chapter 6 and 10, have been revised. Thank you.

After breakfast, Garnet dragged Bo out to the beach to train. Steven ran out the door to cheer the two of them one, leaving Pearl and Amethyst to watch Peridot inside the house.

"Must you two keep glaring at me?" Peridot groaned.

"And let you wander off to do whatever you please?" Pearl scoffed. "I don't think so."

"And what is it do you think I could do out there?" Peridot asked in irritation. "I'm stuck on this miserable planet with no means to get back to Homeworld."

"There's still the Kindergarten." Pearl said. "We know that you want to get there, and we're not letting you restart it."

"Then you're watching me for nothing." Peridot grumbled.

"What?" Pearl asked in annoyance.

"In case you two clods have forgotten, you smashed the power to the Kindergarten. I don't have a suitable replacement for the power source, so I cannot reactivate the Kindergarten, even if I wanted to." Peridot explained. Pearl and Amethyst stared at Peridot before Amethyst spoke.

"Even if you wanted to?" Amethyst repeated. Peridot's eyes widened as she realized her mistake.

"What did you mean by that?" Pearl asked. "If you're not here to restart the Kindergarten, then what exactly have you been trying to do there?"

"Nothing." Peridot lied. Pearl and Amethyst were not convinced, nor amused.

-Outside-

Garnet was training Bo and Steven, mostly Bo, in reflex training by throwing small stones at them.

"You need to react faster Bo!" Garnet said as she threw another stone at him, which he deflected with his scythe.

"I know, but it's hard to dodge or deflect them when you throw them so fast that they practically break the sound barrier!" Bo said as he sweat bullets from the constant jumping around. "And how come you've thrown most of them at me?!"

"Because Steven is younger than you. Plus, I don't want to see him get hurt." Garnet said, a smile at the last sentence.

"Besides, she's not throwing them that fast." Steven said.

'Teacher's pet.' Bo thought as Garnet threw a stone, dramatically slower, at Steven, who easily jumped out of the way to avoid it. Bo groaned before he was beaned in the head with a rock.

"Remember to pay attention during battle, or you won't be walking away from the battlefield." Garnet said.

"Yes Ma'am." Bo groaned as he rubbed his head.

SLAM

All three of them looked to see Pearl and Amethyst lead Peridot, who was bound by Amethyst's whip, out of the Beach House and down the stairs towards the beach.

"Why's Peridot all tied up?" Steven asked.

"Guess she tried something stupid." Bo said as the three gems walked towards Garnet.

"What did she try to do?" Garnet asked as she summoned her gauntlets.

"I did absolutely nothing." Peridot said.

"She was talking about the Kindergarten!" Pearl said.

"Did she try to sneak off to activate it?" Garnet asked.

"She said she couldn't activate it, even if she wanted to." Amethyst said. Garnet looked Peridot straight in the eye, making the green gem sweat.

"If you weren't there to reactivate the Kindergarten, then what exactly does Homeworld want with it?" Garnet asked. Peridot remained silent as she looked at Garnet's visor, which blocked out all three of Garnet's eyes narrowing at her. "I'm not asking. I'm demanding! What is at the Kindergarten?!"

"Peridot?" Steven asked as they all looked/glared at her. Peridot's eyes shifted between each of them, growing more nervous by the second before she relented.

"The Kindergarten's where Homeworld's conducting some experiments!" she said rather quickly.

"Experiments?" Bo asked. "What exactly is Kindergarten?"

"Kindergarten is a place where gems are planted into the ground, suck the life out of it, and incubate." Pearl explained. "But, what kind of experiments would they be performing there?"

"They're...Fusion experime-" Peridot was cut off after Garnet reached up and grabbed her by the throat. "Gack! Ack!"

"We're going to the Kindergarten!" Garnet said as she began walking towards the Beach House, with Peridot still in her grasp. The rest of them followed before Bo stopped and looked under the house.

"Is that a lion?!" Bo asked.

"Move it!" Garnet yelled, making Bo forget the lion and run into the house and onto the Warp Pad with the others.

-Kindergarten-

Everyone stepped off the Warp Pad before Garnet dropped Peridot onto the ground. Peridot staggered as she got onto her feet, still wrapped up in Amethyst's whip, and looked back at the gems.

"This is Kindergarten?" Bo asked as he looked around.

"Which way?" Garnet ordered. Peridot scowled at her before looking off into one direction.

"It's where you Crystal Gems smashed the power core." she said. Everyone quickly began walking before they came upon the deep hole that lead deep into the Earth's crust. Everyone slid down before coming to the dark and empty space at the bottom.

"This place is creepier than I remember." Steven said.

"Where are they?" Garnet asked.

"I have to pull them out of the ceiling manually." Peridot said.

"We'll pull them out. You tell us where to pull." Garnet said. "Steven. Bo. Guard the exit in case she tries to run." Both of them nodded before they went and stood near the exit.

-5 minutes later-

The room now had many pillars of Earth all around them, each of them pulled out of the ceiling where Peridot said they were, with some of them still hanging from the ceiling.

"So...what next?" Bo asked.

"Is something supposed to be in those?" Steven asked.

"Yes. Though I have no idea exactly what is in them." Peridot said as Garnet gently placed her hand on one of the pillars. Suddenly, it began to tremble and shake, causing everyone to back away from it.

"That's not good." Amethyst said before something fell from the ceiling and hit the floor. Everyone looked to see what looked to be a red hand merged with a blue foot, both of which were twitching on the ground.

"What is this?" Pearl asked as she picked it up, only for it to grab her face. Garnet punched it, making it poof into two tiny gem shards mashed together.

"It looks like two tiny gem shards stuck together." Steven said as he walked over and looked at it. "Is that what these things are? Gems, stuck together?" he asked as Garnet threw them away in horror. Soon, more began falling from the sky, arms and legs mashed together in odd combinations before the shaking pillar cracked open.

"What now?!" Bo asked as something came out of the pillar. It was covered in light, with what looked like four gems fused together in the center. It kept shifting, changing, and glitching before finally falling to the ground. It looked like a giant hand made of body parts wrapped in a blackish-gray cloth. All the gems looked at it in horror. "What is THAT?!" Bo yelled as it crawled towards the gems.

"Garnet! What do we do?!" Steven asked. No answer came as Garnet stared at it, frozen in horror as a few hands grabbed her. One slapped her face and knocked her visor off, showing a look of pure terror across in her eyes. "Garnet! Why aren't you answering?! Garnet!" Steven called as he and the gems began swatting and poofing the smaller fusions while Peridot watched.

"These were Crystal Gems! Shattered into pieces! They were buried underground!" Garnet said as tears streaked down her cheeks. "They were forced like this! They were forced to fuse! This is wrong! This is all wrong!" Everyone stared at her as Garnet spoke. "I-I'm sorry!" she cried before her body glowed white and began to split.

"No! NO! Garnet! You're coming undone!" Steven cried as he knocked a fusion away with his shield.

"Come on G! Snap out of it!" Amethyst called.

"Garnet! This isn't like you!" Steven yelled. Garnet's three eyes appeared and widened before she began to struggle and knocked the giant Cluster Fusion off of her. She then grabbed it and began to pull as her body returned to normal before she pulled the Cluster apart, forcing it back into it's fused gems. "We did it!" Steven yelled in triumph before his good mood faded as Garnet stared at the fused gems, her thoughts completely on the fused gems that she was holding in a bubble. She didn't even hear Steven as both Ruby and Sapphire spoke about the fusion, the rebellion, and this state being the punishment. "Garnet?" Steven called. After a few seconds, Garnet sent the bubble away to the temple before turning to Steven, a sad look on her face.

"Steven." she said with a sad look while the others all stared at her. She looked back at them all one-by-one before her eyes landed on Peridot, her expression quickly switching from sad to enraged. She walked over and lifted the bound Peridot of the ground with both of her hands, startling everyone there. "Why would Homeworld do this?! What were they trying to accomplish?!"

"They were prototypes for the Cluster!" Peridot said, her voice full of fear.

"What is the Cluster?!" Garnet demanded.

"If you untie me, I'll explain!" she said as she stared at Garnet's three angry eyes. Garnet didn't speak for a moment before dropping her to the ground with a thud.

"Untie her." Garnet ordered while she walked a few steps away, doing her best to restrain the urge to beat Peridot senseless. Amethyst obeyed and caused her whip to vanish, releasing Peridot from her restraints. "Now," Garnet continued, her voice slightly calmer. "What exactly _is_ the Cluster?" Peridot took a few calming breaths before she, under intense supervision, explained exactly what the Cluster was. She had restored a bit of power to the room and used the screen to show pictures as she explained the Cluster, how it was a Gem Geoweapon comprised of millions of gem shards, how it's been incubating inside the Earth, and that it would destroy the Earth upon taking it's physical form. The others couldn't help but share shocked/grim looks as the weight of everything sunk in.

"How could Homeworld do this to the Earth?!" Pearl screamed, her hands held out at the picture before her.

"I don't know." was Peridot's answer.

"How can you not know?" Bo asked, his voice carrying nothing but confusion.

"I was created long after the idea of the Cluster was set in motion." she defended. "The only things I have connecting me to it are the few hundred years of reports I've read, and that I was assigned to check up and report it's current status." The gems glared at her before Garnet picked up her shades and placed them back over her eyes.

"Let's go. I've had enough of this place." Garnet said while walking towards the elevator. The others exchanged worried glances before joining her on the elevator, up to the surface, and back to the Warp Pad to leave.


	12. Pearl Vs Peridot! Enemy Movement

A/N: Sorry for not updating. Been trying to wrap my mind on how to revise this story. First off, I'm going to take down a few chapters. They may or may not show up later with some rewrite, but that remains to be seen. Hopefully, this story won't be on a hiatus for a long time again. Now, to the chapter.

* * *

After learning of the existence of the Cluster, the gems, Steve, Bo, and Peridot all came to a temporary truce to destroy said Cluster. To that end, the group were now using the barn as a base to construct a drill that could bore deep enough into the Earth to destroy it. There was just one problem holding up construction. Peridot and Pearl fighting.

"I was made to build a machine like this!" exclaimed Peridot. For the past couple of minutes, both she and Pearl had been fighting about who was in charge of building the drill. Peridot, who was still used to the caste system of Homeworld, refused to take orders from Pearl, believing her to just be a fancy servant. Pearl, who saw herself as an equal, refused to be looked down on by Peridot. "You were made to take orders, NOT to give them!" she finished while pointing a floating finger towards Pearl. Both gems looked ready to tear the other apart before Steven jumped in, hoping to defuse the situation.

"Hold on!" he yelled as he got between the two of them. "We can all agree that you're both good at this, so can't we just work on the drill together?"

"NO!" both gems yelled before going on saying how they could build something better than the other. That was when Steven came up with the idea of building robots to decide who would be in charge. Seeing a chance to prove the other wrong, both gems rushed into the barn to begin constructing their own robot.

"Hey Steven! What's going on?" Ameythyst asked in confusion when she saw what the two of them were doing inside the barn.

"Building robots."

"WHAT?!" Amethyst yelled when the noise got too loud.

"I SAID, THEY'RE BUILDING-" Steven shouted before both gems came out of the barn. Pearl's was a tall and agile robot, while Peridot's was a bulky and powerful mech. "Whoa!"

-Later-

Pearl and Peridot were soon facing off against each other in a series of tests to prove whose robot was better, with Garnet, Amethyst, and Bo being on the sidelines as spectators. The Crystal Gems were on Pearl's side, while Peridot was supported by Bo. After the final event, which ended in a draw, Steven declared that the event was tie, and that both would work on the drill together. Peridot refused, demanding a tie-breaker, and attacking Pearl when she tried to call it a tie. Soon, both of them were fighting while the others all watched. The fight ended with Peridot destroying Pearl's robot and declaring herself the winner, only for the Crystal Gems to surround Pearl and ask if she's alright.

"HEY! Why aren't you listening to me? She's just a common Pearl!" Peridot yelled.

"You're wrong!" Steven declared before stating that Pearl wasn't common. That she tries to be better than she already is everyday, and saying that she's amazing. Peridot just stared as they began cleaning the mess up before shouting again.

"But I won! What about the rules?!" she demanded.

"Welcome to Earth." was Garnet's simple answer, leaving Peridot in confusion as the others left to clean up.

-Later-

Steven and the others were still cleaning up the mess from after the fight between the two robots, clearing the way to begin working on the drill tomorrow. As they did, Steven noticed Peridot compliment Pearl on being able to build a robot and other skills unseen of a Pearl before saying that they should both start soon on the drill. Pearl only smiled and corrected her when she held the small power drill in her hand upside-down. Steven smiled as the two gems showed signs of getting along.

"Looks like we're on our way to stopping the Cluster." he said.

"It's not just the Cluster." Steven turned to see Bo standing behind him, a hunk of metal in his hands. "We still have another problem on this planet."

"Right. Those Gem Hunter guys you were talking about." Steven replied with his eyes to the ground before looking up at Bo. "Why are they even hunting you and Peridot anyway?"

"I don't know, Steven." said Bo before walking away. "I just don't know." Steven frowned before going back to helping with clean up, unaware of the prying eyes looking at him through a pair of binoculars.

-Some distance away-

Standing a good distance away from the barn were two figures watching everything that had just transpired between Pearl and Peridot.

"Any change?" asked a feminine voice.

"Aside from the target and the other gem trying to kill each other with robots? No." answered the man holding the binoculars before looking at her. "Should we try and capture them?"

"And wind up like the last team sent to capture them? I don't think so." she said as she stood up and dusted herself off. "And with the Crystal Gems there, we'd never make it out unscathed. No, what we need is to watch them carefully and report everything back to HQ." The man nodded his head before looking back through the binoculars at Peridot, who seemed to be smiling and talking to Pearl.

-Gem Hunter HQ-

A woman was comfortably watching from the shadows of her office as a live feed of a gem was being chained to a wall. The gem looked to be a common Ruby with her gem located near her left elbow and was thrashing around to get free, screaming something at the ones who tied her up.

"We're ready to start." said a man in the room, his voice coming in through the speaker. He looked to be in his mid-forties, wore a white lab coat over a blue shirt, brown pants, and black loafers. He had wrinkles with a brown moustache and was balding on top.

"Proceed." said the woman. The man nodded from the other side of the screen before a small device was brought in. It looked to be a blaster that could be attached to the wrist. The man attached it to his wrist and pressed a few buttons before the device came to life. He grinned before pointing it straight at the Ruby, who only glared past the man and at the screen.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, TRAITOR!" she yelled before the man blasted her. Her body convulsed before a yellow energy split her apart, then blew up into smoke. All that was left was her gem lying on the ground.

"Experimental Gem Destabilizing Wrist Ray test successful." grinned the man before removing it and looking at the screen. "I assume this is to your liking?"

"You assume correct." said the woman before typing at her computer. "And as for the other experiments?"

"Unfortunately, we've only been able to scratch the surface of the technology of the Gem Destabilizer that we acquired-"

"Bottom line it!" snapped the woman. The man looked at the woman before sighing.

"If we don't hit any snags, we can begin testing larger fields possibly eight days from now." the man answered.

"Then get to it." said the woman before switching the screen off. She sat alone in silence, the only sound heard was the buzzing of her computer. "To think that their return would provide me the keys to their downfall." she said before a small grin snuck onto her face. "Foolish Homeworld."

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A/N: Okay, the first half is basically canon, I know. Still, it'll help me get started on truly revising this story. Hope you all like it. And again, sorry for taking forever.


	13. The Beginning of the Drill

A/N: Sorry about not updating. Mind's been all over the place.

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The work on the Gem Drill was proceeding at a slow pace. Garnet was either supervising or moving heavy objects out of the workspace, Amethyst was either goofing off or gathering supplies that Pearl asked for, Steven was helping out any way he could, and Bo was keeping an eye on Peridot, who was grumbling and taking devices apart while being tied up to the fence on a leash.

"Stupid Permafusion!" she growled while unscrewing the casing off a microwave. "Taking my limb enhancers! What'd I even do wrong?!"

"You asked her to unfuse because it made you uncomfortable." Bo explained. "Now come on. We've got a drill to build."

"We? You haven't done anything to contribute to it's completion!" she stated.

"I've been keeping an eye on you, per Garnet's orders." Bo said with a smirk. Peridot responded with a 'Gah' while throwing her arms up in aggrivation before going back to her work.

-Meanwhile-

Far in the distance were the two strange figures that had been spying on the Crystal Gems for awhile now.

"What exactly are they trying to build?" asked the woman.

"Why are you asking me? I ain't got no idea!" the man replied while watching through the binoculars.

"Ugh! Give me those!" she snapped before yanking the binoculars away and viewing through them, leaving the poor man to grab his throat in a desperate attempt to get the strap off his neck. "Hmm...Can't make heads or tails of it."

"Geh! Gack! Acckacckkk!" gagged her partner as he began to turn blue.

"What'd you say?" she asked while still looking through the binoculars.

"I...Can't...Breathe!" he gasped out.

"Hmm? Whoops!" she yelped as she released the binoculars, allowing her partner life giving oxygen. "Sorry about that." she laughed nervously

"You...bitch!" he cursed before going into a coughing fit.

"I've been called worse." she shrugged before seeing some movement. "Wait. Something's happening."

"What?" asked the man as he got his breathing under control.

"It looks like the Peridot is leaving with the little boy and the defective Amethyst by Warp Pad." she explained. "The question is: Where?"

"Better question. Why are those gems palling around with a stupid kid?" the man asked.

"Well, why don't we just go up to them and ask?" she said sarcastically. "Why do you think we've been spying on them?! If we attack without a plan, we could end up just like the last four! Or have you forgotten about their 'severance' package?"

"How could I forget? I was asked to deliver it before coming to this little piece of nowhere." the man smirked. "It's there fault for botching it up." The woman only glared at the man before looking back through the binoculars. The two of them took turns observing the remaining gems before a familiar light appeared, signalling the return of Peridot's group. "Something's happening!" the man exclaimed as he saw them walk off the Warp Pad.

"What do you see?" asked the woman.

"I see...whoa!" he said as he pulled his eyes away from the binoculars, blinked, then looked again. "They brought some machinery with them."

"Let me see!" she ordered before yanking the binoculars off his neck and looked through. She could see Amethyst with a hateful glare in her eyes, Peridot looking confused, and Steven looking sad. But what really got her attention was the giant drill head that they had brought with them. "That drill..." she said with a far off look in her eyes.

"What about it? Do you know what they're building?" asked the man.

"No idea." she replied with a shake of her head.

-With the Gems-

Garnet and Pearl watched as Amethyst lugged the drill head towards the barn, a scowl on her face, while Peridot and Steven followed close behind.

"This is perfect!" Pearl smiled as she inspected the drill head. While she looked it over, Bo noticed the looks on the returning party's faces. He kept a blank look as he walked over towards Steven and Peridot.

"What's with your faces?" he asked them.

"There's nothing wrong with our faces." Peridot stated. Bo only raised an eyebrow at her response before shifting his attention to Steven.

"Peridot was talking about her opinion about all of us at the Kindergarten." Steven answered with a sigh.

"What's wrong with that? I was merely stating how the Crystal Gems all function differently from Homeworld standards." Peridot defended. "I mean, look at everyone here. You two are half-gem abominations. Pearl's a Pearl. Garnet's a Permafusion, though that doesn't explain why she's in charge of everyone. And Amethyst is taking orders from the both of them! She's a Quartz! A soldier! She should be the one in charge, even though she's defective."

"Defective?" Bo asked. Steven then explained how Peridot stated how Amethyst was supposed to look like compared to how she currently looked, and even saying she was gemetically wrong.

"Well she is." Peridot said after Steven finished explaining.

"Hmm." Bo hummed in thought as he stood up straight and closed his eyes, his arms folded over his chest. "Peridot?"

"Yes?"

"You're a total clod!" he said before walking away, leaving her standing there wide-eyed in confusion.

"I'm a...How am I a clod?!" she shouted at him, only to growl when he didn't respond.

"Because of what you said to Amethyst!" She turned to Steven, who continued. "You said a lot of things that hurt Amethyst's feelings!"

"Feelings? Who cares about her feelings? Who cares about ANY of you?!" she yelled before she began to stomp and throw a tantrum, leaving everyone else to just watch her lose it.

"Were any of you like this when you first came to Earth?" Bo asked the other gems as he leaned up against the barn wall.

"Nope." Garnet answered cooly.

"What's she going on about now?" Pearl asked.

"Who cares?" Amethyst scowled while glaring at Peridot.

-Back to our Mysterious Gem Stalkers-

"I'm telling you, it's a perfect opportunity!" said the man as he and his partner watched Peridot and Steven working on the drill away from the other gems. "If we can grab either one of them, the other's will cooperate!"

"And what if they don't? What if we blow our cover for nothing?" she snapped back while watching through the binoculars. "We stay put and observe. Those were our orders. Nothing more, nothing less." The man narrowed his eyes at her before the sound of panicked screaming came from the barn. The two watched as Steven was now riding atop the runaway drill while Peridot tripped when her leash snagged a nearby rock.

"If the Peridot gets crushed by that drill, will our boss get mad?" the man asked as they watched Amethyst appear before she got knocked out of the way of the speeding drill thanks to Peridot.

"Probably. But there would be nothing we could do about it." she answered as she watched the drill come to a halt and Steven slump over the side.

-Later with the gems-

Pearl had begun to yell in panic after seeing the damage done by the drill, with Garnet blaming the cows for what happened. While they talked, Steven, Bo, and Amethyst were cleaning up the pieces before Peridot walked over.

"Um...Amethyst?" she said. "I wanted to say...well..."

"Whatever you want to say, say it and get it over with." Amethyst snapped, clearly still upset about what Peridot said earlier. Peridot glared before noticing Bo staring at her and sighed.

"I came to say...I'm sorry." she finally confessed. She went on, albeit with much difficulty, saying how she didn't mean to make her feel bad. She ended with saying that she still thought everything was strange with the Crystal Gems, if not outright wrong, but that she wasn't any better having failed her mission and allying herself with them to save a planet she was meant to destroy, and how she wanted to understand them.

"Oh, Peridot!" Steven smiled, causing her to groan.

"Hey, Peridot?" said Amethyst, gaining their attention. She finally cracked a genuine smile as she said, "Thanks." Peridot gave a sheepish smile back before Amethyst finished. "But you're still a nerd."

"I'll be sure to remember that." she said with a huff.

"How do you feel now?' Steven asked. Both he and Bo smiled at her answer.

"Big."

-Elsewhere-

The two stalkers from earlier were standing before the same shadowed woman as she read their report.

"Based on your observations, the targets and their group seem to be constructing a drill?" she asked.

"Yes." the woman answered while standing at attention. She waited for her boss to give them a command before she waved her hand and dismissed them, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

"Why would the Crystal Gems be building a drill?"

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A/N: Okay, yes. More cannon. Not much creativity here. Sorry.


	14. Dreamland

A/N: Sorry for the long absence, like with all my stories. Just been 'blah' a lot. Hope this makes up for it.

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Construction of the Cluster Drill was steady as the Crystal Gems, Peridot, and Bo worked on the device at the barn. When night would fall, the Gems would remain vigalant for any threats from the mysterious group that held Bo and Peridot, or for regular corrupted gems. Steven and Bo would sleep inside the barn like rocks after a hard days work. Which left Peridot to reflect on anything new she had learned during the day.

"Tomorrow, I am to learn about the strange device I have seen Steven stare at for hours without leaving called a 'T.V.' as everyone here calls it. Peridot, Facet 5. End Log." she finished before her screen disappeared. After learning to keep her mouth shut about Garnet being fused all the time, she was given her Limb Enchancers back, which greatly helped in building the drill. If not for the fact that the noise would wake the two half-gems, she'd still be working on it. "Why must we cease work of the drill during the same period of time every Earth rotation?"

"Because it's the middle of the night." Pearl answered. "And even though Steven and Bo are half-gems, they still require sleep for energy, like the rest of the humans on Earth."

"That's completely inefficient." Peridot said as she stared at the two sleeping hybrids. Bo had built a makeshift hammock, while Steven slept on a mattress in the back of the truck.

"It's their way." Garnet answered.

"Yeah Peri. Besides, it feels good to sleep." Amethyst added. "You should try it."

"And why would I want to try this 'sleeping' ritual when I don't require it for energy?" she asked.

"Because when you wake up, it'll be closer to the time we go back to working on the drill." Pearl answered. Peridot only raised an eyebrow at the three of them before asking another question.

"Have any of you done this...sleeping?" she asked.

"Sure have." Amethyst smiled.

"Well...no." Pearl answered.

"Sometimes." Garnet replied.

"It's great...when one _can_ sleep!" All of them turned to see Bo standing before them, a tired and irate look on his face. "Couldn't you four have moved this conversation out of earshot?"

"Sorry about that." Garnet told him as he yawned.

"If this keeps up, I'm sleeping on the roof." he groaned as he walked back towards the hammock. "Now, if nothing else happens, I bid you a good-"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

'...never mind." Bo finished through gritted teeth as the Gems all surrounded a hyperventaling Steven.

"Steven? What's wrong?" Pearl asked in concern as she held him by the shoulders.

"I..they..she...them!" he said quickly.

"Whoa, Steven! Calm down!" Amethyst said as he looked around the room, realizing he was back in the barn.

"You too Peridot." Garnet told the green gem, who had her blaster charging when Steven screamed. She deactivated her blaster as Garnet approached Steven. "Did you have a nightmare Steven?"

"No! I saw...Malachite." he answered, his eyes on his lap.

"Who?" Bo asked.

"That big fusion of Jasper and Lapis!" he finally told them.

"What?! Where?!" Peridot asked in panic as she frantically looked around, her blaster back out.

"Will you put that away?!" Pearl snapped. "She's not here!"

"But Steven just said-"

"Dude! It's a nightmare! A bad dream!" Amethyst explained.

"...I don't know what that is." Peridot answered.

"We'll explain later." Garnet told her before turning to Steven and removing her visor, her three eyes staring at Steven in concern. "For now, tell us what you saw, Steven." Steven took a deep breath to calm himself while the others got comfortable for Steven's dream.

"Okay...here's what I saw."

-Steven's Dream-

" **HERE WE ARE FOLKS! IT'S THE MATCH OF THE CENTURY!** " came an announcer's voice. A boxing ring was surround by screaming fans ready to watch two combantants duke it out. " **WHICHEVER ONE OF THESE TWO FEARSOME FIGHTERS IS GOING AWAY AS THE ULTIMATE LIGHTWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPION!** " A microphone was lowered down to the center of the ring, where Pearl was waiting in Referee attire to introduce the two fighters.

 _"In this corner, weighing at 182 lbs., we have the bone breaking brutalizer! The power punching pulverizer! Our challenger, BO!"_ A light lit up the corner, revealing Bo in a pair of boxing gloves, shorts, and shoes earning cheers from the crowd as he flexed his muscles.

"Save it for after you win!" groaned his coach, Peridot.

 _"And in this corner, weighing 102 lbs., we have the little guy with a lot of heart! The kid king of knockouts! Our reigning champion, STEVEN!"_ Another light came on, revealing Steven in similar boxing attire, a huge grin on his face.

"You've got this!" yelled Coach Garnet. Both fighters approached the center of the ring to hear the rules.

"Now then," Pearl began. "I want to see a good, clean fight. No hitting below the belt! Go to a neutral corner during a knockdown! And come out when the bell rings!" Both nodded with a grin as they touched gloves and returned to their corners.

"Don't let him intimidate you!" Garnet told Steven. "You've defeated bigger guys than him!"

"Don't worry! I've got this!" Steven replied as Amethyst walked by with ROUND 1 card held above her head while smiling.

"He may be small, but he's fast!" Peridot warned Bo. "Counter his speed with that footwork of yours!"

"Got it!" Bo nodded before the bell rung. Both fighters approached the center, gloves defending their faces.

"Get ready to lose, shortstack!" Bo grinned.

"In your dreams, Bo-nehead!" Steven snickered.

"That wasn't very-GWOF!" Bo started before Steven landed a jumping uppercut to Bo's chin.

" **AND THE CHAMP LANDS THE FIRST PUNCH!** " yelled the announcer as Bo stumbled a bit. Steven tried a punch for his ribs, but was countered by a right hook from Bo. " **OH, THE CHALLENGER LANDS A MASSIVE RIGHT TO THE LITTLE GUY! I DIDN'T THINK WE'ED BE NEEDING THE ICE PACKS THIS EARLY FOLKS! OH NO!** " he screamed as the crowd watched in awe and terror as Bo threw a continous barrage of left and right hooks at Steven, each one sending the little champ barreling toward the boxing lines, only to be flung back towards Bo to recieve another punch each time. " **SUCH BRUTALITY FROM THE CHALLENGER!** "

"That's it! Keep pouring it on!" Peridot cheered.

"STEVEN! SNAP OUT OF IT!" Garnet yelled. Steven's eyes snapped open as he grabbed the line on the return trip. Bo readied another punch and swung, only to hit air and stumble when Steven flew away. The champ then snapped back again, but this time to deliver a left hook of his own. The resulting attack was hard enough to send Bo spinning like a top.

" **THE CHAMP RETURNS WITH A WHIRLWIND HOOK! THE CHALLENGER'S BEEN SENT SPINNING!** " said the announcer, sending the audience into a frenzy as Bo began dancing around in the ring.

"BO! GET YOUR HEAD ON STRAIGHT, AND KNOCK THAT TINY TWERP DOWN!" hollered Peridot.

"Okie-dokie!" Bo laughed before shaking himself awake. "Why you little-"

DING!

" **AND THERE'S THE FIRST BELL FOLKS! WHAT AN EXCITING MATCH THIS HAS BEEN, AND IT'S ONLY THE FIRST ROUND!** " said the announcer as both fighters went back to their corners. Steven was being treated for any cuts by Garnet while Bo was swishing water to clear his mouth out. Steven glanced over at Bo, who glared back angrilly with puffed out cheeks. Steven smirked, but it quickly vanished when Bo suddenly shout a massive jetstream of water at him from his mouth. Next thing Steven knew, he was floating in water, everyone and everything else no longer there.

"How much water was in that bottle?" Steven asked himself as he looked around the area, his eyes stopping at a light in the distance. "What's that?" he said as he swam towards the light. It got brighter the closer he swam until he was right next to it. "Hi there. My name's Steven!" he greeted with a smile. "What's your name?" He did not expect the answer that came.

"Malachite." came a voice as three similar lights appeared around the one already there. Steven looked at all of them before backing up in shock when they all suddenly changed into four large eyes, each one glaring at him.

"AH!" Steven yelped as he swam back to see Malachite as a whole. "It's you! You're the fu-" he began before Malachite's entire form lit up. It seemed to shift and twist as she released a horrible shriek of pain, lightning blasting out of her in various spots.

-End of dream-

"And that's when I woke up here." Steven finished, his hands wringing the blanket he was wrapped up in. The others only stared in shock at the dream he had.

"Dude...that was weird." Amethyst finally said.

"But I don't get it." Peridot followed. "How did you speak with her? And...what's boxing?"

"He didn't." Pearl answered before placing her hand against her cheek. "At least, it shouldn't be possible."

"Dream powers?" Bo threw in. "What about that?"

"It could be possible." Garnet said before turning to Steven. "Steven, do you think you could reach out to her again?"

"I don't know. I can try, but I don't know if it'll work again." he answered.

"Won't know if you don't try." Bo said. Steven looked at them all before a serious look came over his face.

"Alright!" he said before flopping onto his back. "Guys! Help me to sleep!"

"How?" Pearl asked.

"Warm milk? Bedtime story? Counting sheep?" Bo counted off. He stopped when a buzzing sound came from Peridot's blaster as she removed it from an unconscious Steven.

"PERIDOT!"

"What? He asked." she rebutted.

-Steven's Dream-

Steven was now floating past a strange mix of objects, loved ones, and other such things while looking for Malachite.

"Where is she?" he asked himself before hitting a large ball of white fluff. "Huh? What's this?" he said before sinking inside, then hitting something wet with a thud. "Ow. What happened?"

"Oh...you're back." Steven looked up to see Malachite looking down at him with a bored glare.

"M-Malachite!" Steven gasped before Malachite raised an arm, creating a column of water under Steven that lifted him until he was eye level with her.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"So...you're not a dream?" he answered.

"ANSWER THE QUESTION!" she snapped, her booming voice knocking him onto his butt.

"S-Sorry! Just making sure!" he yelped before standing up. "Well, I'm not actually 'here'. I'm dreaming inside the barn."

"...I have no idea what that is." she said with a look of bored confusion.

"Hey. I don't hear Lapis's or Jasper's voices." Steven suddenly said, making Malachite go wide eyed. "What's going on?" Malachite turned away, her hands tightening into fists.

"They were...too tired to struggle for control." she answered. "Too tired to fight. Too tired to...remain themselves. That's why I'm here." She then glared at Steven while growling. "Why am I even explaining all this? Leave!"

"What? But we've been looking for you!" he pleaded. "Me, the Crystal Gems, Bo, Peridot-"

"Peridot?" Malachite asked before chuckling. "So she survived, huh?"

"Yeah. But she's hiding here with us." Steven said. "She and Bo escaped these mean people that put these electric collars on their necks and-"

"What did you say?!" Malachite interrupted. "Electric collars?! Like the kind that keep your form solid, no matter how badly it's damaged?!"

"Yeah." Steven answered before something dawned on him. "Wait. How do you know so much about them?" Malachite growled as she bit her lip while looking away. "Malachite! Please, tell me!" She glared back at him before sighing.

"Fine." she grunted as she raised her arms, her eyes adopting a mirror look as the water encircled them. Steven could only watch in astonishment as another Malachite appeared, though this one appeared to be struggling.

" **RELEASE ME, BRAT!** " she roared, her upper set of eyes glaring in hatred.

 _"NO! YOU'LL HURT STEVEN!"_ came a gentler tone as the lower eyes showed more emotion. Both sides argued with each other as they struggled for dominance while Steven watched.

"What am I looking at?" he asked the current Malachite.

"This," she began before a multitude of lights lit up the struggling Malachite. "Is my capture." Steven's eyes grew wide as he looked at the scene. He watched as Malachite looked on in anger and confusion before a fleet of submarines began firing at Malachite. The explosions shook the area as Malachite tried to decide whether to fight back or run, not seeing two tiny vessels closing in towards her, a giant collar hanging off both ships. Steven covered his mouth as both ships fired simultaneously at her, the collar speeding towards her at high speeds.

"LOOK OUT!" Steven cried out of reflex. He watched the collar clamped down on her neck one second, then shock her into submission the next. The images faded away as Malachite's eyes returned to their normal glare at him. "If you're in the hands of the gem hunters, we have to get you out! Tell me where you are!"

"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you!" she said.

"But-"

"DON'T YOU GET IT?!" she snapped again, her patience with him at an end. "BOTH OF ME KNOW YOU IN SOME WAY! ONE HATES YOU THAT THEY WANT YOU SHATTERED! ANOTHER CARES FOR YOU THAT THEY DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU GET HURT!" She calmed down enough to finish. "And both sides actually agree on something. Neither of them want you to suffer this...horror that I've endured." Steven stared as Malachite hugged herself, her eyes full of pain. "Just...leave me alone. Stay away." Steven's eyes drifted downwards, nothing making a sound for a few long moments. Finally, he looked back up at her while turning away.

"We'll find you. I promise." he said before everything faded to black.

-Barn-

Steven's eyes fluttered open to see nine eyes looking down at him.

"Hey, Ste-man." Amethyst smiled.

"Did you find her?" Pearl asked as Steven sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah." he sighed as he looked at them before asking, "Where's Peridot?"

"In Time-Out." Bo chuckled as he looked up at the barn rafters, his eyes spotting Peridot struggling to free herself from Bo's hammock.

"What did she say?" Garnet asked. Steven's gaze hardened at her question.

"She's in a lot of trouble."

* * *

A/N: I don't know their real weight, or every rule and object in boxing and the rings. Hope you all enjoyed.


	15. Road Trip!

Progress on the Gem Drill had slowed to a crawl after Steven's dream talk with Malachite two days ago. The gems tried to stay focused on building the drill, but they couldn't tear their thoughts away from Steven. The poor boy tried his best not to show it, but hearing that a friend of his was imprisoned by a group of gem hunting humans was weighing heavily on his heart. He was now sitting next to the drill as Pearl and Peridot worked on a circuit board before Pearl yelped in pain.

"Be careful with that!" she snapped at Peridot after the smaller gem accidentally plugged something in the wrong spot, sending out a spark that zapped Pearl's hand. Peridot's only response was a few grumbled words along with a glare. "What was that?"

"I said you're a CLOD!" Peridot yelled in Pearl's face.

"Hey now!" Garnet interjected before things could escalate. She pushed the two gems apart from each other to keep them from throttling each other. "Let's not have any fighting here. I don't want to have to take your limbs again."

"She started it!" Peridot growled.

"Excuse me?! I'm not the one who's made 3 mistakes in the past hour!" Pearl shot back.

"The only mistake I've made is working with you!" Peridot snapped back before walking off. "Rotten dirt-for-brains!" she grumbled as she walked into the barn and turned on her newest obsession: Camp Pining Hearts! By the end of the second runthrough of the same episode, she had finally started to relax and sigh.

"Peridot?" came Steven's voice as he climbed the ladder to the upper level of the barn. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." she grumbled, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"No, you're not." Steven stated with a frown.

"How would you know?" she sneered as she finally looked at him.

"Because you were finally getting along with everyone. Now you're acting like how you did when you first saw us through that screen at the Kindergarten." Steven explained before sitting next to her. "Ever since I spoke to Malachite, you've been acting weird."

"I am not." she said with a huff.

"Then why are you so angry?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" she finally yelled before standing up a kicking the TV with her foot, smashing the screen in.

"Steven! Are you okay?!" Pearl yelled as she ran inside with the others. "What happened?!"

"Peridot broke the TV." Steven told her as he descended the ladder. "She seems really upset about something."

"Well, breaking things won't make her feel better." Pearl stated with her hands on her hips.

"Makes me feel better." Amethyst chuckled, earning a glare from Pearl.

"Maybe Greg's road trip will help her." said Garnet.

"What road trip?" Steven asked.

"Hello? Where is everybody?" came a voice from outside the barn before Greg stepped inside. "Hey! Who's up for a road trip?!" he asked with a big grin. They all looked at him in confusion, which deflated his good mood. "Um, is this a bad time?"

"No. Please continue." Garnet said.

"Well, I met this guy on the internet. He's from the Keystone state, and he's selling car wash brushes for real cheap. I just got to go there and pick them up." Greg explained. "If you guys are too busy with the drill, then that's alright."

"Actually, we've decided to take a break for a bit." Garnet told him.

"Are you sure?" Pearl asked her.

"What's a 'road trip?'" Peridot asked as she looked down at them all from the upper level.

"It's really fun!" Steven said with a smile.

"Road trips vary, but Steven's right." Greg added before saying something about pools, motels, and best diners. Peridot didn't really feel like it.

"So, anyone else joining us?" Greg asked.

"Peridot will." Garnet stated.

"What?! Why do I have to go?!" Peridot yelled.

"Because you need to get out of the barn before your next mistake with the drill blows us into shards." Garnet stated. "Now get down here and get ready to leave." Peridot reluctantly obeyed and climbed down the ladder before stomping her way towards the van.

"Well, that's two." said Greg. "Anyone else?" When no one answered, he looked down to Steven. "Alright then. ROAD TRIP!"

"ROAD TRIP!" Steven yelled in excitement before gasping. "Oh my gosh! We nearly forgot to ask Bo!"

"Where is he anyway?" Amethyst asked.

"The last time I saw him, he was lying on top of the barn." Pearl answered.

"I'm gonna ask him if he wants to come along." Steven said as he started running.

"He won't." Garnet answered him before he started climbing the ladder he put up there. Two minutes later, Steven came down alone. "And?"

"He said he's thinking about things." Steven answered.

"Well, his loss." Amethyst told him before smiling. "What are you waiting for? You and Greg got a roadtrip to enjoy!" Steven and Greg smiled, said they'd be back soon, and walked towards the van and a grumpy Peridot.

-On the road-

The roadtrip was quiet before they were halfway there, which was when Peridot finally stopped being a grump and began to observe the strange things in the back of Greg's van.

"What are these things?" Peridot asked as she held up a record.

"Oh! Those are records!" Steven explained as he got into the back with Peridot.

"And what function does it have?" she asked as she turned it over a few times.

"It plays music when you put it on a record player. Like that one." he told her while pointing at the old music player.

"Music?" Peridot asked in confusion as she brought the device closer to inspect it.

"Yeah!" Steven grinned before he asked her. "Don't you have music where you're from?"

"Sometimes I could hear Pearls singing while doing maintenance work around Yellow Diamond's court." she answered.

"Well, that's one type, I guess?" Greg shrugged.

"What about one with instruments?" Steven asked. His answer came in the form of a confused look from Peridot. "No way! You don't have instruments?!"

"What's an instrument?" she finally asked.

"They're things we use to make all kinds of music." Steven explained before he looked at his dad's guitar in the back. "Like that!"

"Hmm." she mused as she picked the guitar up and began examining it. "What are these things for?" she asked as she ran one of her floating fingers across a string, eliciting a like noise from it.

"You do that with those string to make all kinds of music!" Steven beamed. "When we get to the motel, dad and I can show you more!"

"But until then, please be careful with that." Greg said in a pleading voice. The rest of the drive was spent with Peridot asking more questions about this and that before they finally pulled into the parking lot of the motel.

"Another great thing about motels?" Greg said as they walked into the room. "You can drive right up to your door!" Steven gasped as he looked inside the room. He saw a door leading to the bathroom, two beds, a T.V., and a bedside table.

"I'm gonna swim in the pool! Order a movie! Get free ice! This is gonna be a blast!" he yelled in excitement as he began jumping on the bed.

"NOT before we check for bedbugs!" Greg yelled before checking the beds, leaving Peridot to walk in with the luggage.

"I fail to see what's so great about this establishment." she groaned.

"Good news! We're bugless!" Greg told them before his phone went off. "Whoop! That's for me. Can I count on you two to hold down the fort?"

"Why? Wait! Are we expecting an attack of some sort?!" Peridot shouted in panic.

"No, Peridot!" Steven chuckled. "It's what humans sometimes say when asking others to just watch the place."

"That's right." Greg said as he opened the door. "Well, I'm off to meet a man...and _internet_ man." He then turned to the two of them and said with a nervous smile, "If I'm not back in an hour, call the police."

"Right, dad." Steven nodded with a thumbs up before his dad left. "Come on Peridot! Bounce with me!" he yelled as he jumped on the bed.

"Why?" she asked as her eyes followed Steven.

"Because it's fun! Or we could look at these brochures! Oh, 'Keystone Caverns' sounds awesome!" he said as he looked through the brochure.

"No thank you." she answered before turning away, leaving Steven to frown at her back.

"Well...how about some T.V.?" he asked her before flipping it on. "Huh? The channels are all different."

"Unless it's Camp Pining Hearts, no thank you." she said.

"Well...that's all we have to do." he said before his face lit up. "Wait a second! I nearly forgot about the pool outside!"

"Pool?" she asked him as he ran inside the bathroom. "What's a pool?"

"A pool's kind of like a tiny lake that people swim and play in!" he explained from inside the bathroom before walking out in his swim trunks, a towel hung over his shoulder. "Come on! It'll be fun!" he said before walking outside. She sighed in defeat before reluctantly walking outside and towards the pool, where Steven was already swimming around in. "See? It's fun!" he said as he began swimming in circles. Peridot only watched the water move around in haphazard waves before Steven called up to her. "Come on in, Peridot. The water's nice~" he said with a smile.

"Must I?" she asked before receiving Steven's puppy dog eyes. "Ugh, fine!" she relented as she walked towards the steps into the pool.

"Uh, you might want to leave your limb enhancers behind." he said before she walked into the water. "They may not react well to the water."

"Hmm. Very well." she said before she proceeded to take them off and leave them away from the pool. "Now what?"

"Now you jump in!" he said as he walked out of the pool. "Watch! CANNONBALL!" he yelled before jumping back in, splashing Peridot with water.

"I fail to see the point." she said before copying his actions and jumping in. Steven watched her form slowly sink to the bottom until she was sitting on the floor. She looked up to see Steven swimming down to her, his cheeks puffed out as he held his breath. "Well, now what do I do?" she gurgled, earning a frown from Steven before he swam back to the surface to breathe. Seeing no point in staying on the floor, she walked towards the steps that lead out of the pool and onto the dry land. "So, when do we get to the fun?" she asked Steven as he dried off.

"This 'is' the fun." he said.

"This 'swimming' serves no purpose. There's no Camp Pining Hearts on the primitive image cube, and you have yet to fill me in on 'music' that you seemed so eager about before." she listed off.

"Well, we still have the diner my dad's taking us to tomorrow morning." he said, trying to salvage the trip.

"What's a diner?" she asked. He was about to answer, but was stopped when his dad's van pulled into a parking space, a load of carwash brushes strapped to the roof.

"Hey Schtoo-ball! Peridot! I brought dinner!" he said as he climbed out of the van, a pizza box in his hands.

"Hi dad!" Steven greeted while Peridot grabbed her limbs and walked into the room.

"What's with her?" Greg asked.

"She's been like that for awhile. Even before we brought her here." Steven explained with a frown.

"Maybe she's just trying to adapt to Earth. Everything's new to her from what I've been told." Greg said as he sat with Steven in the back of the van. "But hey, we can still have fun."

"SQUARE PIZZA?!" Steven yelled in horror when his father opened the pizza box. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS CRAZY STATE?!"

"Son, there'll be a day when you'll learn to accept all pizza." Greg told him. Steven only sighed as he took a slice.

"This trip hasn't exactly been fun." Steven said before taking a bite. "Peridot just doesn't seem to want to do anything. It's like she's just angry at everything."

"Did something happen at the barn?" Greg asked.

"We don't know. She doesn't seem to want to talk to us." Steven explained, his eyes cast to the ground before they shot up. "Actually, I think she started acting like this after I talked to Malachite."

"Malawho?" Greg asked in confusion. "Is this another gem?" Steven then explained to him about his dreams, seeing Malachite, and how she'd been captured by the group of gem hunters. "That's...a lot to take in, son."

"I know. And ever since then, Peridot's been acting all moody and angry. She also keeps making mistakes while working on the drill." Steven said as he finished his pizza slice. "And she was finally starting to get along with everyone."

"Well, Lapis and Jasper had come here with her. Maybe she's just worried about them and is showing it this way?" Greg guessed. "Let's just give her some space for now. When she wants to talk, she'll talk."

"Yeah." Steven smiled as he grabbed another slice. "And then we can all be friends again."

-The next day-

Steven, Greg, and Peridot were all sitting in a booth at 'The Best Diner in the World' waiting for their orders. They ordered three plates of bacon and eggs since that was the special, and because they didn't know what kind of food, if any, that Peridot liked. A waitress came over with the orders and placed them in front of the group, earning a thank you from Steven and Greg while Peridot just stared at the plate. Two eggs, three strips of bacon, and a strawberry all arranged in a smiling face was staring back at her and creeping her out.

"Why is this...'food' staring at me?" she grimaced.

"It's just the way they arranged it on the plate." Steven told her. "It's supposed to make you smile, I guess." Peridot only stared at the food while she poked it with her floating finger. Steven and Greg quietly ate their food before Greg asked her if she wasn't hungry. "Gems don't need to eat, dad." Steven whispered.

"Well, Amethyst eats a lot. And Garnet sometimes eats too." Greg reasoned.

"Do I look like a Crystal Clod to you?" Peridot asked with a glare.

"It's not about being a Crystal Gem." Greg said. "If you don't want it, you don't have to-"

"You know what?! If you and the Crystal Gems care so much about this 'food', then all of you can have mine!" she snapped as she pushed the plate towards them before getting out of the booth. "When you're ready to leave, I'll be in the 'van'!" And she quietly stomped out of the diner and slipped into the back of the van and just sat there with a scowl. Not long afterwards did the back door open, revealing a worried Steven looking inside. "Good. We can finally leave."

"No."

"What?" Peridot asked while looking at Steven. "What do you mean 'no'? We have to get back and complete the drill before the Cluster destroys this planet!"

"I know that." Steven said as he jumped inside and shut the door. "But we're not leaving until you tell me what's wrong."

"There's nothing wrong!" Peridot growled at him. "I'm perfectly fine!"

"No, you're not!" Steven finally yelled, startling the green gem. "Ever since I told you about my chat with Malachite, you've been acting weird! You're constantly angry! You keep messing up with the drill! You haven't smiled at all during this trip! WHY?!"

"I...I don't know!" she yelled while avoiding eye contact.

"How can you not know?!" Steven asked on the verge of tears.

"I just don't, okay?!"

"Was it something we did?!" Steven asked while Peridot bit her lip. "Whatever's causing you to be this way, we'll help you! But we can't if you keep acting like this and keep your problems to yourself!"

"I don't have a problem!"

"If you didn't have any problems, then you wouldn't be making dumb mistakes that I would make trying to build the drill! And you definitely wouldn't be getting angry all the time!"

"I'M SCARED!" she finally yelled as she turned towards him. She was panting hard with her head down as Steven just looked at her. "I'm scared." she repeated in a quieter voice.

"Scared? Of what?" Steven asked.

"I'm scared of...of what's happening to her right now. Of what's being done to her." she said.

"Who? Malachite?"

"Half of her." Peridot answered as she curled into a ball. "Lazuli."

"Lapis?" Steven asked in shock. "Are you her friend as well?" Peridot snorted before chuckling as she lifted her head up, shocking Steven more when he saw tears coming from her eyes.

"After what I've done, she'd never want to be my friend." she said with a watery smile. "She was my prisoner, and I was in charge of interrogating her the whole trip to this planet."

"I don't understand." Steven said after sitting down in front of her. "If you cared about her, then why did you keep her a prisoner?"

"I didn't care for her...at first. I don't know when it happened, but somewhere along the way, I began to care about her." Peridot explained as she wiped her eyes under her visor. "When you said that she was fused with Jasper, I was a little concerned. Jasper only cared about whatever info I could get out of Lazuli. And when...when you said that they were in the hands of the gem hunters..." Her tears were coming faster as she began to tremble. "Just the thought of her in their hands...I can't bear to think what could be happening to her!" She began to quietly sob and hiccup before she felt a pair of arms wrap around her.

"I'm scared too." Steven said as he hugged her. "I keep trying to find her in my dreams to see how she is, but I haven't been able to find her." Peridot's eyes softed as she slowly returned the hug. They stayed like that for a moment before letting go. "Listen. I'll keep trying to find her my sleep, and you focus on the drill. That way, when we find and save her, there will still be an Earth to show you two. Okay?" he asked with a smile. Peridot actually smiled back with a laugh as she wiped her eyes again.

"Okay." she said. It was then that the back door opened again, revealing Greg.

"Hey. You two doing okay back here?" he asked them.

"We are doing fine, dad." Peridot answered, earning a confused look from Greg.

"Right." he said before looking at Steven. "Anywho, I paid for breakfast. What do you say we head home?"

"That sounds great." Steven said.

"Wait a minute." Peridot interrupted. "Pool, T.V., Diner...What about this free ice that you were talking about?"

-At the barn-

The van slowly pulled up to the barn, where the Crystal Gems were quietly chatting before Steven jumped out.

"We're back!" he greeted them.

"You sound like you had fun." Garnet said as they all came together.

"We did." Steven answered, a bag of ice in his hands. Peridot suddenly stepped forward towards the Crystal Gems, a blank look on her face.

"What's up, Peri?" Amethyst asked. Peridot looked to all three of them before sighing.

"I'm sorry." she said. "For acting like a clod all this time, and for yelling at you three when I kept making mistakes. I've just been...I mean...I-"

"Peridot?" Pearl interrupted. Peridot looked to see Pearl smiling at her. "Don't we have a drill to build?" Everyone smiled before the gems all walked towards the drill, leaving Steven and Greg to themselves.

"Think we can do this again?" Steven asked his father.

"Maybe." Greg answered back while ruffling Steven's hair. "Maybe we'll all go on a vacation when this whole mess is settled."

"Awesome!" Steven yelled in excitement. He and his dad said there goodbyes before Steven ran inside the barn.

"By the way. Where is Bo?"

"If he's not eating or sleeping, then he's back on the roof of the barn." Amethyst answered.

"Has he been there all day?" Steven asked before giving Peridot his bag of ice. "I'm going to go talk to him." he said before running out.

-Barn roof-

Bo was quietly staring at the sky, lost in thought. He barely heard Steven trying to talk him as he wondered about one thing.

'If the have a powerful fusion like Malachite in their hands, then what are we going to do now?'


	16. Old Friend, New Problems

The speed at which the drill matched Peridot's rising good mood. Since the road trip a few days ago, a happier atmosphere enveloped the barn. Peridot was getting along a little better with the other gems, the smiles and laughs being shared by everyone being present. As she spent more time on Earth, her curiosity about certain things around her grew. She asked Garnet about why she stays fused, how Pearl learned to fight, how Amethyst can stomach human food, and Steven about music. His lesson stuck the most since she seemed to hum a lot while working.

"Is there anything that's worth more than peace and love on the planet Earth?~" she sang to herself while making sure a control panel was functioning properly.

"If there is, I don't know what it could be!" Steven joked as he stood next to her, a few tools in his hands.

"Is this that 'humor' you told me about?" Peridot asked him.

"Yeah. Don't worry. You'll get it in no time." Steven told her. Peridot only shrugged before returning to the control panel just as the other gems came over, a few bits of machinery in their hands.

"Hello, Steven. Peridot." Garnet greeted as they placed the items on the ground and joined them. "Getting along?"

"We're fine." Peridot replied, a small smile on her face. The smile left, however, when she realized that some wiring was missing. "No wonder this wasn't working! Ugh, and the spare wiring's gone."

"Bo still has it." Pearl told them. "Though I don't know why he wanted it in the first place." They got their answer when they saw the man run towards them while screaming, with lion right behind him.

"BAD KITTY! SIT! DOWN!" Bo yelled before he ducked behind Steven. "CALL IT OFF! CALL IT OFF!"

"LION! STOP!" Steven yelled as he stood in front of Bo, arms stretched out wide. Lion skid to a stop, but kept a glare in his eyes at Bo. "What's gotten into you?! Why are you attacking Bo?!"

"Maybe we should be asking Bo that question?" Garnet said as she adjusted her visor. All of them looked at Bo, who was tapping his index fingers together.

"I maaay have been teasing your pet with the spare wires like a cat with string." Bo answered with a nervous chuckle. They all just stared at him as he sweat. "What?! He's a big cat!"

"Looks like you bit off more than you can chew...again." Garnet scolded him.

"He was playing with it just fine at the beginning, but then he roared at me before chasing after me." Bo explained as he pulled out the wires and gave them to Peridot. "I mean, what is this lion anyway? They're not normally pink."

"Lion's my pet! He loves me!" Steven explained with a smile. "And he's also magic."

"Magic? How?" Bo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Watch this!" Steven grinned before disappearing inside Lion's mane, making Bo and Peridot jump back. No one said anything before Steven jumped back out on his bicycle like last time. He wheeled around a bit before stopping in front of Lion to put it back in his mane. "Cool, right?"

"Holy cow!" Bo exclaimed. "How'd that happen?!"

"That's what I wish to know!" Peridot added.

"I don't know, but's it's really cool!" Steven smiled. "There's tons of stuff in Lion's mane!"

"Like what?" Bo asked.

"Well," Steven began before sticking his head inside Lion's mane, then back out. "There's a lot of pink grass," he said before sticking his head back in, then out. "A pink tree...a shirt my dad gave my mom...a chest...a video my mom left me...a bubbled gem...an old photo-"

"Wait! Back up!" Amethyst stopped him. "What was that about a gem?"

"Uh, there's a bubble gem floating in there?" Steven said.

"If there's a gem in there, then only Rose could've put it there." Garnet stated, her thumb under her chin.

"But, why? If it's a corrupted gem, why isn't it with all the others?" Pearl asked.

"Why not just release it and see?" Peridot asked as if it was the simplest of things to do.

"You do have a point. Steven, bring her out!" Garnet ordered. Steven nodded before jumping back into Lion's mane. They all waited for a few moments before Steven came back out, a gem multicolored gem floating in a pink bubble in his hands. The moment Garnet and Pearl saw it, everything seemed to freeze.

"It...it can't be." Pearl whispered while Garnet slowly approached the gem. "Is it...her?"

"Her who?" Bo asked as Garnet took the floating gem from Steven. "You know this one personally?"

"Stand back. I'm releasing her!" Garnet commanded before popping the bubble, letting the gem fall to the ground. Nothing happened at first before the gem glowed and rose into the air. They all stared as light surrounded the gem, took form, and dropped to the ground. She quickly jumped up in an attack stance before looking around in confusion. Her gaze stopped when she spotted two familiar faces.

"Pearl? Garnet?" said the gem.

"BISMUTH!" Pearl yelled, tears in her eyes as she jumped up and hugged the larger gem. As the two and Garnet began to laugh and joke, the four other confused members just stared at them.

"Do you know this gem?" Peridot asked Amethyst.

"No. I've never seen her before." she answered.

"Well, if Garnet and Pearl and acting friendly, then she must be good! Right?" Steven asked. Bo could only shrug his shoulders at him.

"And who are these guys?" Bismuth asked after finally noticing them all.

"That's our line. Who are you?" Amethyst asked with her arms folded over her gem.

"Everyone, this is Bismuth! One of the original Crystal Gems!" Garnet introduced her, earning a gasp from Steven.

"She's a Crystal Gem too?!" he asked with stars in his eyes.

"That's right!" said Bismuth as she knelt down to Steven's level to shake the hand Steven stretched out to her. "Nice to meet you!" She then stood back up and looked at the other three. "These all new recruits as well?" she asked before looking at Peridot. "A Peridot, huh? Haven't met one that joined our ranks before! And we can always use more Amethysts!" she said while eyeing Amethyst. "And who's this guy?" she said when she finally got to Bo.

"My name's Bo." he introduced himself with a friendly wave.

-Meanwhile-

"Hey! Check this out!" said the man of the spying duo as he peered through the binoculars. "Another gem!"

"What?" the woman asked as she took the binoculars and looked, only to gasp. "A Bismuth?! This is bad!"

"How bad?" the man asked.

"The we-better-tell-our-boss-immediately kind of bad!" she snapped before she started dialing her phone.

-Back with the gems-

The gems had decided to take the day off of drill building, much to Peridot's protest, to fill Bismuth in on what's been happening. Turns out, she had been gone for 5,300 years, leaving her completely unaware of everything between then and now. But now, as she so jokingly stated, she was ready to get back in 'Bismuth!' And that started with taking her friends, old and new, to the Forge.

"What is this place?" Steven asked as they stepped inside, only to be shocked by all the weapons everywhere. Bo, Peridot, and Amethyst were also surprised, though not as excited. Amethyst was skeptically of Bismuth, Bo was curious, and Peridot was shaking like a leaf at the sight of all the weaponry around her. Bismuth immediately showed them what the place was, and her role in the Crystal gems by combining minerals and materials into a sword.

"YOU. MAKE. WEAPONS?!" Steven yelled in surprise.

"That's right! I outfitted the entire Rebellion!" Bismuth stated with pride in her voice.

"Pretty sweet!" Bo complimented after watching her make the sword.

"Hang on a second." Bismuth suddenly said before she looked in a chest and let out a laugh. "Yes! They're still here!" She then threw a pair of spiked brass knuckles to Garnet, who summoned her gauntlets that now had spikes on the knuckles. And she threw an attachment to Pearl, who used it to turn her spear into a trident. She even impressed Amethyst when she upgraded her whip, adding three morning stars to the end.

'They're getting stronger!' Peridot thought in panic. Now, she had a truce with the three Crystal Gems that she met before. But this new one...that was unclear. 'What if she attacks when the truce isn't necessary? What if they _all_ decide to attack me when the Cluster is stopped?!' A long list of horrible scenarios filled her mind the longer they stayed in there. 'I WANNA GO HOME!'

-Elsewhere-

The two that were spying on them before were now standing before their shadowed boss, who had just slammed her fist against her desk.

"They have a Bismuth on their side?!" she growled.

"Y-Yes!" the man stuttered as the duo were terrified at what their boss might do. Said boss grit her teeth before turning in her chair. "Um...it's just one more gem. She won't be a problem.

"Bismuth's are basically construction workers." the boss explained. "And the Bismuth that became a Crystal Gem, the one you saw before, was the main supplier of all the weaponry used in the Rebellion thousands of years ago."

"Uh...meaning?"

"It means that with her around, the Crystal Gems will grow stronger!" she snapped at him before opening the door with a button. "You're dismissed! Leave!" she ordered. The two quietly obeyed and walked towards the door, but were stopped when she gave them another order. "And get that Malachite under control!"

"Yes Ma'am!" they said before finally leaving.


	17. Malachite's Status, and First Encounters

A/N: I know some haven't been able to review, but that's my fault. I deleted some old chapters to redo it, but it doesn't let readers leave reviews for them if they already did for earlier chapters. If you can't leave a review as yourself, leave one as a guest. I say this because I really want to know how you all think of this story. Now, let's read.

* * *

Anger. Rage. Fury. Hatred. Pain. Sorrow.

These and so many other emotions were swirling inside the massive fusion known as Malachite. Ever since her capture, she had relentlessly tried to escape from her confinement. The multitude of chains wrapped around her would be easy to break, if not for the collar around her neck sapping her strength. Ever though she was too tired to even be moving, too tired to fight, and too tired to keep the personalities of the two gems that made her separate, she still struggled to break free.

" **GRAAAAAAAAAAH!** **RELEASE ME!** " she roared as she pulled at the chains, hoping to break them after the umpteenth time. All she got for her efforts was a mocking laugh and a painful shock from her collar. She would've fallen over from exhaustioin if not for the chains keeping her upright. Her breathing was ragged as her four eyes glared at the two that just entered her holding cell. "You two again?" she asked, her voice full of hatred.

"Having fun?" the man asked as he smirked at the gigantic fusion. His smirk turned into a grin as she struggled to throw a punch at the two of them. "You know, we don't have to do this. All this pain could be avoided if you just-"

" **NEVER, FILTHY HUMAN!** " Malachite roared at the man, only to receive another shock when he pushed a button on a remote he had with him.

"You know, it's actually a good thing that you're so stubborn." the man mused as he stared up at the fusion. "The longer you resist, the more I get to zap your ass." And to prove his point, he pressed the button again, sending more electricity through her form.

"You'll...pay for this." Malachite managed to wheeze out, her eyes still glaring at the duo.

"That's what all you gems say." the man scoffed before turning to leave the room, leaving his partner behind.

"It would be within your best interest to submit and obey us." she told Malachite before she turned to walk away. "The pain'll end that way."

"Is that what you did?" Malachite asked, stopping the woman in her tracks. She did nothing and said nothing for a few moments, save for moving her hand up to her throat to rub it. Neither said anything as the woman finally left the room, leaving Malachite to try and gain some strength for another try at the chains.

-Meanwhile-

After their trip to the forge, the Crystal Gems decided to do a little sparring, with Bismuth battling everyone that stepped up, which was Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. Steven, Bo, and Peridot decided to sit on the sidelines to watch while the rest had fun.

"These guys are pretty good." Bo said in admiration.

"Uh...yeah." Peridot answered as she watched. 'Don't be scared. We have a truce. Don't be scared. We have a truce!' she mentally repeated to herself in an attempt to stop herself from thinking of the many ways she could get shattered by the Bismuth. It didn't help when Bismuth began to get overzealous.

"We are STRONG! We are IMPORTANT! WE. ARE. THE CRYSTAL. GEMS!" she roared as she smashed a nearby rock that was bigger than herself, causing her to shake from where she sat. Steven wasn't fairing much better, seeing as he was now sweating from the display.

"Can I please go back to the barn now?!" Peridot squeeked out.

"What? Not gonna spar with us?" Bismuth asked with a grin. "We Crystal Gems always spar before a big battle!"

"Uh...that's...well..." Peridot stuttered, afraid of her reaction when she said that they only had a truce.

"She's not much of a fighter. She's the nerd of the group." Amethyst said with a laugh. "Bo and Steven can fight though."

"Alright! Who's up for it?!" Bismuth asked.

"I will. I wanna see if I've gotten any stronger." said Bo as he stepped forward and summoned his scythe.

"Wow. That really is Black Onyx's scythe." Bismuth said in awe.

"You've heard of my mom?" Bo asked her.

"Heard of her? I wish I'd only heard of her." Bismuth chuckled as she looked away. "Fought her once during the rebellion." She then looked to the sky, a far off look in her eyes. "It may have been thousands of years since then, but it wasn't that long for me. I remember the first time I saw her."

-Flashback-

 _"We had gotten word that Homeworld was scouting out a new place to build another Kindergarten in a mountain region, hoping to make more soldiers for the war. I went with the squad Rose dispatched to stop them. Unfortunately, it was a ruse."_

"Is this the place?" asked Biggs as she looked the place over.

"The coordinates are correct." said Crazy Lace as they began to walk further between the mountains. "This would be an ideal place to start a Kindergarten. All the way out here with low visibility from a distance, but..."

"But what?" Snowflake asked as the squad stopped moving.

"There's nothing here indicating that this place was tested for a Kindergarten." Bismuth finished for her friend. "Everything looks natural. Untouched by anyone, let alone Homeworld. Something's not right." she finished before she and the others began to carefully scan the area. Nothing on all sides excepts rocks, mountains, and more rocks. "We should fall back."

"Guys," came a weak voice from one of the gems in the squad. Everyone turned to the rear guard to see a Carnelian staring at them, a scared look in her eyes as she pleaded. "...run." she said before her form blew up into smoke.

 _"Her gem hadn't even begun to fall to the earth before a figure dashed through the smoke. All most of us saw was a grey and black blur come out of what used to be one of our squad's form, followed by a trail of glinting silver. We began to summon our weapons, but not before another one of us fell. And it went on like that for everyone else. We tried, but it was useless against her. I had heard rumors of Black Onyx long before the rebellion. How she had the supposed strength of five quartzes, but the build and grace of a pearl. It was like she was dancing around us as she took us out, one-by-one. I'll never forget that expression of hers as she finally targeted me. Sharp eyes that spoke volumes about her determination to come out the winner, followed by a grin that could send chills up even the most hardened gems spine. A split-second later, she was replaced with a worried Rose standing in front of me."_

-Flashback ends-

"How'd you get back?" Amethyst asked as she, Bo, Steven, and Peridot listened intently to the story.

"My future vision predicted that everyone falling during the battle was the most likely outcome." Garnet explained. "When I told Rose, many of us went to the mountain range that everyone had gone to. When we arrived, we came across all of their gems suspended in bubbles, and no Homeworld Gem in sight."

"Even now, we still don't know the reason why she never shattered anyone." Pearl added.

"Are you complaining that your fellow Crystal Gems weren't shattered?" Peridot asked.

"Of course not! I'm merely curious." Pearl answered as both gems began to have an arguement.

'Mom.' thought Bo as he looked down at his right hand, his gem gleaming in the sunlight. 'Can I ever measure up to that skill? Can I ever measure up to you?'

-Later-

After the fight with Bismuth, which ended after Bismuth smacked Bo into a rock, the gems decided to show Bismuth some new earth rituals. Outdoor sports, card games, pizza, and television. Everything was new, and her friends seemed to be enjoying themselves, so she couldn't help but smile and had fun trying it all out. Night had fallen and everyone had retired for the day, save for Peridot. She had returned to the barn to try and get some work on the drill done. That didn't last long as Steven, Bo, and Bismuth walked out of the barn, catching her attention.

"I thought you two were going to began your mandatory sleeping cycle." she said to Steven and Bo.

"We were, but Bismuth here's got something she wants to show me." Steven said with a grin.

"And what would that be?" Peridot asked, earning a grin from Bismuth.

"A weapon that'll keep Homeworld from retaking this planet for good!"


	18. Bo and Bismuth Vs Steven and Peridot

Steven, Bo, Peridot, and Bismuth were all back inside the forge, with Bismuth examining her finest work, Rose's Sword.

"I designed this sword for a fair fight. It can cut through a gem's form _in an instant._ Destroying the body, but never the gem." she explained, her smile turning to a frown at the end.

"So, none of us have to worry about being shattered by it?" Peridot asked in a hopeful voice.

"Exactly." she said as she sheated the blade. "But Homeworld doesn't fight fair. That's why we need to up our game." She then shifted her hand into a sort of key shape before inserting it into the floor, causing the four of them to descend into a hidden room with platforms floating above a pit of lava. "I designed a weapon that would've been a game changer during the rebellion."

"Ohhh. An unknown weapon hidden deep inside secret room that almost no one knows about." Bo said in mock awe before he chuckled.

"Like in a dungeon dwelling game!" Steven added with excitement.

"I have no idea what you two are talking about." Peridot said just as Bismuth brought out the weapon.

"Here it is! The weapon that would've won the war! The Breaking Point!" she declared. Strapped to her right arm looked like a black cylinder that had a star painted on it, with a piston on one end, and a silver spike on the other. Steven stared in awe, Peridot looked nervous, and Bo whistled.

"Looks like it could do some real damage." Bo smile with a nod.

"Oh, don't worry. Homeworld's gonna see just how much damage it'll do once this baby's done with them!" Bismuth stated before stomping a switch on the floor down. Magma soon flowed down several openings on the ceilings near the walls, allowing them to enter some molds at the bottom. The cooled molds were then revealed to look like gems as they were brought forward. "LISTEN UP, YOU HOMEWORLD UPPERCRUSTS!" Bismuth yelled.

"WE!"

She pointed the spike at the mold's gem.

"ARE!"

Two openings appeared on the sides of the Breaking Point.

"THE CRYSTAL!"

The piston extended back.

" _ **GEMS!**_ "

And that's when they saw exactly what the Breaking Point was for. The piston charged forward, shooting the spike out and smashing the molded gem to shards, with the rest of the mold breaking into tiny pieces. The three of them were stunned while Bismuth smirked at her handiwork.

"You...you shattered it." Steven exclaimed in a tiny voice.

"That's right! One shot from this will shatter any gem in the galaxy in the blink of an eye!" Bismuth explained with pride. Peridot couldn't stop trembling at the sight as she took a step back from her.

"Shattering gems...means they'll be gone forever." Steven stated, his hand gently clutching at his own gem.

"Exactly!" Bismuth said as she fit the Breaking Point to Steven's arm. "Homeworld can't retake this planet if they're reduced to shards! There!" she said after properly fitting it onto his arm. "Now you look like you really mean _Bismuth!_ " Steven could only stare at the Breaking Point in disapproval while Bismuth brought another mold before him. "Why don't you try it out? Here. This one's got your name on it. Let me just move over here first." she said before jumping to a different platform. Steven walked up to the mold and aimed the spike at where the gem was. "That's it, Steven! Fire away!" Bismuth cheered with a smile while Peridot slammed her eyes shut while turning away.

"I...I...can't." Steven replied while lowering the Breaking Point away from the gem mold. Peridot looked at him, silently relieved that he didn't just decide to shatter the enemy. After all, after this truce, who knows what could happen to Homeworld, which still included her.

"What? Why not?" Bismuth frowned.

"If we shatter them...won't we be just like Homeworld?" he asked.

"Of course not! We'd be shattering them to protect our allies! This planet! Our cause! To protect them from Homeworld's tyranny!" Bismuth explained

"But shattering a gem...isn't what Crystal Gems do." he said.

"Hey! Don't tell me what Crystal Gems do!" Bismuth snapped. "I was an original Crystal Gem!" She then reached for the Breaking Point. "If you won't use it, I'll use it myself."

"NO!" Steven yelled, yanking the weapon out of her reach. "NO ONE'S USING IT!" He then threw the weapon to the ground before glaring up at Bismuth. "I'm sorry, Bismuth. It's...it's not right!" Silence followed his words while Bismuth's hand slowly clenched, her face slowly etching with fury.

"That's exactly what she said." Bismuth whispered loud enough to be heard.

"Huh?" Steven asked, his face going blank, a bead of sweat going down his cheek.

"That's exactly what _you_ said!" she sneered. "It is you. Isn't it, Rose?"

"Uh, what are you talking about?" he asked her, his voice full of confusion and fear.

"Don't lie to me!" she snarled. "You can't expect me to believe you now, after you lied about everything! You're lying about this new form, just like you lied to the others about ME!" she yelled before grabbing him by the shirt and raising him up to her face. "But I didn't just disappear, did I?! YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!" Without even thinking, Steven summoned his bubble, knocking him away from Bismuth. It disappeared when he hit the ground before he stood up and held his hands up defensively.

"W-Wait! This is all a big misunderstanding!" he pleaded.

"He's right!" Peridot spoke up, though she was still trembling. "I've seen many things that can prove he's not Rose Quartz!"

"Quiet!" she barked as she gripped Peridot's face with her hand and lifted her into the air, leaving Peridot's legs to flail. "The only reason you're not shards right now is because we need you to save this planet, Homeworld trash!" She then threw her into the wall on the other side of the room, leaving her to painfully smack into the wall before falling to the platform.

"Peridot!" Steven yelled in distress before glaring up at Bismuth, tears in her eyes. "Leave her alone, Bismuth!"

"Even after all this time, you still care more about our enemies than your own!" Bismuth yelled before shifting her hand into a hammer. "How can you value them, after all they've DONE?!" she asked as she swung at Steven, who jumped away just before her hammer smashed into the ground. "That Cluster that they put into the planet will destroy us, and you still can't bring yourself to shatter them?! Our fallen friends could be a part of that monstrosity!"

"I know that! But it still doesn't make it right to shatter them!" Steven yelled on the verge of angry tears.

"That's where you're wrong, Rose!" Bismuth yelled. "Unless we shatter the Homeworld Uppercrusts, including the Diamonds, gems will never be free!"

CRACK!

Everyone turned to see Bo standing before one of the molded statues, the Breaking Point smoking in his left hand.

"Hmm, not bad." he said as the mold broke into pieces. Everyone was confused before it was replaced with horror by Steven.

"Bo?! What're you doing?! Why'd you dot that?!" Steven yelled, hoping for an answer.

"Why?" he asked them before turning to them all, a small smile on his face, and a dead look in his eyes. "Because Bismuth's right." Steven felt something wither away inside of him as Bo continued. "Sometimes talking won't do. Sometimes, extreme action like shattering is necessary. Especially if it means that gems can be free to be themselves."

"HA! Finally, someone here gets it!" Bismuth laughed before walking over towards him. "Though I gotta ask, aside from the fact that you took on a new form, why would you want to destroy Homeworld?"

"Homeworld abandoned me and many others thousands of years ago. Why should I care about them, when they don't care about us?" Bo asked her.

"Bo! No! You can't!" Steven begged as Peridot limped over to him.

"Shut it, you! From now on, 'No More Miss Nice Gem'!" Bo declared before jumping to another mold and aiming the Breaking Point at it. "And who knows! Maybe this'll help clear up the problem with those pesky Gem Hunters!" he mused as he destroyed another statue. Bismuth could only laugh at Bo's enthusiasm, leaving Steven to silently cry at the sight.

"Test it out all you want! It has been a few millenia, so I may need to provide some maintenance later." Bismuth smiled.

"Alright. Let's see how many of these Homeworld cronies I can shatter!" Bo grinned. On and on he went, smashing into each statue's gem, laughing all the while. Each statue that was smashed felt like another part was being torn out of Steven's heart as he watched the carnage. He was now openly weeping by the time Bo finished off the last statue. "Man, that was fun!" Bo huffed as he panted from overexertion.

"That's good, because I'll be making some more soon after." Bismuth said.

"Still, these were just a bunch of statues." Bo mused as he ran his hand along the side of the Breaking Point. "How effective would this be on an actual Gem?" Bismuth blinked before putting a finger to her chin.

"You know, I've never thought about that." she thought out loud.

"Then," Bo said while turning his eye to Peridot, making her eyes widen in fear. "How about on that Homeworld trash?" Steven gasped in horror before jumping up in front of a terrified Peridot.

"You know, that's not a bad idea!" Bismuth grinned.

"NO! YOU CAN'T!" Steven yelled as he summoned his shield.

"Oh please. You can't stop us." Bo stated while he summoned his scythe. "Besides, Bismuth's right. She's only alive to help us save this planet." Bismuth grinned at Bo agreeing with her. "So what if you started enjoying this planet?" Bismuth blinked at his question. "So what if you started seeing things differently from Homeworld? Enjoying music? Watching earth television? Even enjoying the rain when we told you it wasn't dangerous. So what?" Steven's eyes moved back and forth from Bo and Bismuth. Bismuth was now staring at the ground, her eyes moving back and forth as her thoughts raced

"Here." he said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Since you invented it, why not see how well it really does yourself?" Bismuth stared down at the weapon while Bo jumped over, grabbed Steven, and jumped away from the defenseless Peridot.

"NO!" Steven yelled as he struggled to get away from Bo, who now had Steven pinned to the ground, his scythe near the boy's cheek. "PERIDOT! RUN!" Despite his yelling, Peridot didn't move. Rather, she couldn't move. The thought of Bo, someone she considered a friend, was letting this crazy gem shatter her. Tears were forming in her eyes as her legs trembled, her mind tyring to get itself together. She didn't even realize she was pinned to the wall by Bismuth's morphed hand until Bismuth aimed the Breaking Point at her gem. She gasped when the realization came down on her. She was going to die.

'No! I can't die yet!' she thought as she struggled to get away. 'I can't die! Not when I...' A vision of blue came to her mind, a tear shaped gem appearing in her mind as her tears fell. 'Not when I haven't told her!' She struggled and thrashed, but couldn't pull herself free. 'Lazuli!' She waited. Steven waited. Bo waited. And Bismuth...sighed...as she let the Breaking Point hang on her limp on.

"You did that on purpose." she muttered before her hand shifted back to normal, releasing Peridot.

"Huh?" Steven asked as Bo released him, his scythe disappearing. The young half gem looked up at Bo to see him smiling at her. He slowly stood up while Bismuth pulled Peridot to her feet. "Wait! What's going on?"

"Each gem that gets shattered is one less gem given a chance to truly experience earth." Bo said while looking towards Bismuth, who just stood there facing away from him. "I can tell by your words. You truly wish for gemkind to be free. But how can they experience it if you shatter them and take that chance away?"

"You...YOU WERE FAKING IT?!" Steven yelled after realizing what just happened.

"Duh! You honestly think I want to shatter gems?" Bo asked them. "I mean, if the Breaking Point had been used, who knows what could've happened during the rebellion. She may have even shattered my mom, thus making it so that I'd never have been born."

"Couldn't you have done that without making me think I was in danger?!" Peridot snapped, furious that Bo would just let that play and make her think she was about to die.

"Sorry. I honestly thought this whole thing up in the span of Bismuth and Steven yelling earlier." Bo apologized while rubbing his head.

"Heh...hehe." Bismuth chuckled as she finally turned to him. "Very sneaky." she said with a bitter smile. Steven looked at her smile before walking over to her.

"Bismuth...what happened? Between you and my mom?" he asked her.

"What happened?" she said with a glare. "Like you don't know."

"I don't. I told you. I'm not my mom. I'm Steven." Steven said to her, hoping she'd finally understand.

"Whatever." she said before turning away.

"Bismuth!" Bo barked, making them all turn to him. Then, to their shock, he summoned a sickle and slashed his left palm.

"What are you doing?!" Peridot yelled as Bo held up his bleeding hand.

"Can a gem bleed?" he asked as the red liquid dripped from his hand onto the hot platform. Bismuth blinked at his question before he asked in a louder tone. "Can. A Gem. Bleed?!"

"No!" she yelled before repeating her answer more quietly. "No, they can't."

"That's right. But I'm a half gem. And so is Steven. We've been alive for less than two decades. We have no memories of the lives of our mothers." he explained to her.

"You...don't know what happened." she said in realization before looking down at Steven, her eyes a little softer. "Then all this time, I've been angry at you for nothing." Steven only smiled before hugging her leg.

"It's okay. A lot of gems that I think I'm my mom at first." he said. They were all quiet as the tension left the room before Bismuth released a sigh.

"I brought her here." she said, making them look at her. She was looking down at the Breaking Point that was still attached to her arm. "I presented to her the Breaking Point, in this very room. She refused it for the same reason you gave, Steven. We fought...I lost. And then she...she bubbled me away." She was now crying as she told the story. "She bubbled me away and she never told her friends. _My_ friends!"

"I'm going to tell them. We'll all tell them." Steven told her, making her open her eyes in shock before giving him a watery smile.

"Then you really are better than her." she said before she knelt down and hugged him, which was joined in by Bo and a reluctant Peridot.

* * *

A/N: How was that? Bet I surprised a lot of you, huh? I hope I got that setting right.


End file.
